RESERVATION 2012

(January to June 2012) Compiled By K. SAMU Human Rights Documentation, Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi, India

The 4.5% OBC reservation will harm Muslims (25) MUMBAI: Unlike some of our Oxbridge-educated parliamentarians, Shabbir Ansari never went to university. His knowledge of English is abysmally low and his background modest -this farmer's son lives in a tin-roofed house in Jalna, a small town in Maharashtra. Yet, if there ever were to be a fair debate on reservation for Muslim Other Backward Classes (OBC) between our legislators and Ansari, the latter would win hands down. Unknown to the TV channels which invited pundits and politicos to their studios last week after the Centre created 4.5% reservation for minorities within the 27% OBC job quota, Ansari knows the dynamics of reservation like the back of his hand. He is thus contemptuous of the response of some Muslim leaders who hailed the government's decision as "historic and positive", calling them "ignoramuses"."They don't know what harm this loaf carved out of the existing 27% OBC quota will do to our society," says the 65-year-old founder-president of the All-India Muslim OBC Organisation. "Besides pitting minority OBCs against Hindu OBCs, the educationally and socially weak Muslim OBCs will not be able to compete with Sikh and Christian OBCs in the race to grab jobs and admissions. The advantage of being part of the general OBCs is that you remain invisible and get some benefits. But here, the competition will be tougher as the share has reduced." Ansari has championed the cause of reservations for Muslim OBCs for the last 35 years. Much before December 7, 1994, when the then Maharashtra CM Sharad Pawar implemented the Mandal Commission recommendations granting reservation to the backward classes irrespective of religion, Ansari had been fighting a long battle against the detractors within. Islam supremacists who claim that Islam is "egalitarian" would accuse Ansari of creating divisions where none existed. Undeterred, he trekked across villages in Maharashtra and mobilised the masses to be recognised as OBCs on the basis of their occupation-qureishis (butchers), julahas (weavers), nais (barbers), raeens (vegetable growers), telis (oil pressers) and malis (gardeners). Recognition as an OBC was the first step to getting included in the quota. Ansari faced his first hurdles from the members of Jamaat-e-Islami, a hardcore organisation which dreams of a day when Islamic governance will rule the world. "Why are you begging before the government for concessions when Allah is the sole provider?" asked a Jamaat member at a debate. Ansari retorted: "When your Jamaat was banned during the Emergency, you approached the Supreme Court for relief. Why didn't you knock at Allah's doors instead? I am demanding what the Constitution has already granted." The Jamaat members left the meeting midway. Interestingly, some of his critics, recalls Ansari, later put their children into medical and engineering courses through the OBC quota route. Ansari's baiters didn't comprise only upper-caste Muslims who refused to acknowledge the existence of ashraaf (superior) and ajlaaf (inferior) among them. Many backward Muslims too opposed him. "A butcher in Kolhapur almost stabbed me because I said the qureishis deserved a job quota since they were socially and educationally backward because of their profession," he recalls. After Pawar bowed to the movement Ansari had led, the latter got down to making the process of recognition of OBCs simpler. In a decade or so, he got 57 resolutions passed by the government, all related to how to simplify the certification of OBCs. His commitment to the cause earned him respect from the political class. However, unlike many fellow travellers who succumbed to inducements like a Rajya Sabha nomination and loads of money, Ansari remained a selfless champion of the cause he had learnt under the tutelage of socialists like Ram Manohar Lohia and Karpoori Thakur . When Vilasrao Deshmukh, in his first stint as CM, authorised Ansari to recommend Muslim OBC certificates to those he deemed fit, a Muslim minister in Deshmukh's cabinet opposed it. "Who will come to us if you give this power to someone who isn't even a member of the legislature?" he asked. "Shabbir has never asked for anything for himself. I'll give him your ministry and you the authority to recommend. Will you accept it?" riposted the CM. The minister never raised this question again. Given his prolonged struggle, Ansari should have been happy at the government's decision last week to grant 4.5% reservation to the minorities, of whom Muslims constitute the majority. But he sees it as a setback to his

movement. "I would have been glad if the government had at least partially implemented the Rangnath Mishra Commission report which recommends 15% reservation for minorities, out of which 10% is for Muslims," he says. So what does he foresee? "The decision will be challenged in the Supreme Court," he says, adding, "and the country might be pushed into a reservation-ignited cauldron like the anti-Mandal agitation of the 1990s." (Times of India 1/1/12) Minorities sub-quota order kicks into effect (25) NEW DELHI: The decision of the Government to carve out a sub-quota of 4.5 per cent for minorities within the current reservations for the OBCs in Central government jobs and Central educational institutions came into effect on Sunday. The Union Cabinet had on December 22 approved a sub-quota of 4.5 per cent for minorities within the 27 per cent reservations for the OBCs. The sub-quota will include all minorities which are listed as the OBCs. Following the Cabinet decision, the Human Resource Development Ministry has issued a gazette notification for its implementation in all Central educational institutions. Under this sub-quota,minorities would get admissions in technical institutions such as the IITs, IIMs, NITs and over 40 Central universities. The 4.5 per cent reservation would result in roughly 120 seats earmarked for minorities in the IITs. With a total intake of nearly 3,500 students in the IIMs, 42 seats would go to students from minority communities, according to HRD Ministry officials. The demands were raised following the Sachar Committee recommendations for a share to the Muslims in the in the reservation list for the OBCs. Though the sub-quota decision of the government does not need Parliaments approval, political parties reacted sharply to it. Defending the governments decision, the Congress pointed out that it was only fulfilling the poll promise made during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Congress leaders also said that the sub-quota of minorities within the 27 per cent OBCs may increase after the caste census. (NIE 2/1/12) AMC fails to reserve seats for OBC, SC/ST (25) Allahabad: The Allahabad municipal corporation had adopted a callous attitude while reserving the wards of the city for other backward classes (OBCs) and SC/ST candidates in accordance with the constitutional provisions made in 2006. Raising the issue, Sadiabad corporator Rajiv Arya said that AMC authorities have whimsically reserved the wards without adhering to the constitutional provisions. He has also written to the divisional commissioner regarding the issue. There is provision of reservation for OBC wards according to sub-section (2) of section 7 of Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation (Reservation and Allotment of Seats) Rules, 1994. The number of wards that would be reserved for the OBCs in any municipal corporation would be equal to 27 per cent total wards of that civic body. Had AMC reserved wards in accordance with the constitutional provisions, then 22 seats would have been reserved for OBCs. However, the reality is that only 16 seats have been reserved for this section. Among the reserved seats, 10 were reserved for men and six for women candidates. Similarly, wards for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates have also not been reserved in due proportions. About 10 wards have been reserved for the SC and STs. Among these, four seats have been reserved for women candidates and six for men. Another corporator Uttam Kumar has raised the issue. He said that the neglected sections of the society have not been represented during the last elections in 2006. Kumar demanded that steps should be taken for reservation of wards in accordance with the constitutional provisions. Municipal commissioner Ashok Kumar said that reservation would be done in accordance with the constitutional provisions. Representations would be given to the OBCs, scheduled castes and tribe candidates in the next civic elections. Municipal commissioner Ashok Kumar said that reservation would be done in accordance with the constitutional provisions. Representations would be given to the OBCs, SC and ST candidates in the next civic elections. (Times of India 3/1/12) OBCs demand increase in their quota limit (25) JAIPUR: The Other Backward Classes (OBC) on Wednesday demanded an increase in their quota in the state services and educational institutes from the existing 21% to 27% as per their proportion in the population. The community also pushed for a quota in promotions for itself as is available to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities. Further, it was sought that the upper income limit for separating the "creamy layer" within the OBC be raised from the existing Rs 4.5 lakh per annum. The demands were raised by the Congressmen at the party's OBC cell meeting that was attended by the ruling party president Chandrabhan, minister Jitendra Singh and chief minister Ashok Gehlot, among others. The chief minister once again lashed out at the social and employees'

organisations that oppose quota in promotions. Gehlot stressed that the system of caste-based quota in jobs would continue irrespective of the parties that come to power. "Reservation will continue till the time everyone is equal. Organisations like Mission-72, Jago Party and Samta Andolan want to spoil the state's harmony," the chief minister said, addressing hundreds of Congressmen assembled at the party headquarters. PCC chief Chandrabhan termed the opposition BJP an anti-reservation party. "Till date it has never had a chief minister or a party president from the reserved category communities," he said. Another demand was on setting up of the OBC welfare directorate and the OBC finance Corporation on the lines of such institutes existing in Madhya Pradesh for safeguarding the community's interests. The issue of ministers not informing the local Congress units about their official visits to districts also cropped up at the meeting. (Times of India 5/1/12) Cabinet approves filling of central SC, ST vacancies (25) New Delhi: In the run-up to the Assembly elections in five states, the Cabinet on Wednesday gave the goahead to fill pending vacancies under the scheduled caste (SC), scheduled tribe (ST) and OBC quota in the central government, expected to benefit 50,000 people. The proposal comes soon after a government decision to allow 4.5% reservation to the minorities within the OBC quota. The move is seen as an attempt by ruling UPA government to woo the Dalit, ST and OBC population in these states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand. A Cabinet note circulated earlier stated that the government had failed to fill up the SC/ST and OBC vacancies in the central government. The government had launched a special recruitment drive for SC, ST and OBC categories in 2008 earlier. Though implementation of this decision will be possible only after the elections are over as the code of conduct is in force, its announcement is apparently aimed at appeasing these classes. Both UP and Punjab have sizeable Dalit population and the Congress has been trying hard to woo them. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has tried to influence the Dalit vote bank and wean them away from Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party. This move comes in addition to earlier decision to give reservation to minorities. This was seen as a move to win over Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. (The Financial Express 5/1/12) Reservation for SC, ST in Kudumbashree (25) Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 5 : The Kerala Government has decided to reserve seats for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the elections to post of Chairpersons of Kudumbashree CDS. As many as 1,064 Community Development Societies (CDS) are scheduled to go to polls from January 15, official sources said here today. The Government Order states that 15 and 5 per cent respectively have been reserved for SC and ST candidates in rural CDS of all districts except Idukki, Wayanad and Palakkad, the sources said. As per the Order, a rural CDS would be reserved for SC or ST if their membership is at least 20 and 3 per cent respectively. With the implementation of this Order, 126 rural and 13 urban CDS will have SC Chairpersons. Members of the ST community will chair in 57 rural CDS and in the urban CDS of Kalpetta, Wayanad, it said. The Government has amended Kudumbashrees bye-laws and election guidelines to ensure adequate representation of SC/ST communities in the Administrative Committees of Area Development Societies (ADS) and CDS, it said. (UNI) (New Kerala 6/1/12) 44 fake STs as teachers, probe on (25) Patna:The Bihar government has landed in a spot after an inquiry found that it had appointed 44 OBC and SC candidates as school teachers under the ST quota. These candidates with surnames such as Choudhary, Singh, Ram and Paswan, which are generally not used by Scheduled Tribes in Bihar are among the 34,450 trained teachers selected in 2003. The Kumar government started their appointment recently after a Supreme Court directive. The issue came to light after the Bihar State Scheduled Tribes Commission, acting on a complaint by one Akhilesh Prasad, conducted an inquiry and found that 44 of 297 candidates selected under the ST quota one percent of the total belonged to SC and OBC categories. The commission has now asked the Bihar HRD department to verify the caste certificates of the 44 candidates and file an FIR against them if it is found that they had furnished fake certificates. As we have a complete list of caste surnames used by tribes in Bihar, we can make out from surnames (the illegal appointments). We have got list of all ST candidates from Bihar Staff Selection Commission, the recruitment agency, Vice chairman of the commission, Lalit Bhagat, told The Indian Express. We have given the HRD full details (of the 44 candidates) such as their roll numbers and fathers names. It is for the HRD department to further scrutinise them. (Express India 10/1/12)

Reserve seats for STs in UP election: Supreme Court (25) NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said Scheduled Tribes (STs) have a right for proportionate representation in parliamentary, assembly and panchayat elections and told the Election Commission to make provision, if it could at this late stage, to reserve seats for STs in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. With the EC not reserving a single seat for STs in the state, a group of 10 castes, which have been shifted from the SC to ST category by a Presidential Order of 2003, had moved the apex court seeking a direction to the commission to make proportionate reservation for them in the 403 assembly constituencies. With the shifting of 10 castes into ST fold by the 2003 order, the number of communities under the ST umbrella rose from 5 to 15 and their population surged from a mere 1 lakh to over 6.5 lakh. Going by the proportionate representation formula, 2 to 3 constituencies would get reserved for the STs. Appearing for the Centre, attorney general GE Vahanvati said that UP had a large tribal population and argued that they could not be denied of their right for proportionate representation in the assembly through reservation of constituencies. A bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and S S Nijjar agreed with the AG's proposition but wondered whether the apex court could direct the EC at this late stage. However, it asked the petitioner, the Centre and the Registrar of Census Commission to provide details of tribal population and the pockets of their presence in Uttar Pradesh to the EC and said if the commission felt it still could carve out reservation for the STs, it was free to do so. Senior advocate P S Narasimha, appearing for petitioner Virendra Pratap who is a Gond Mahasabha member, had alleged that zero representation for STs in the UP assembly was a breach of statutory rights conferred on the tribes. (Times of India 11/1/12) Reservations for 14 panchayat samitis declared (25) AMRAVATI: The reservation for Panchyat Samiti declared on Saturday evoked mixed reaction among candidates. Women have reason to cheer as more than 50% seats were reserved for them On Saturday, district collector declared the reservation of 14 panchayat samitis. The reservation was declared by draw of lots. Out of 14 panchayat samitis, eight were reserved for women. These include Chandur Bazar (OBC), Chandur Railway (SC), Dhamangoan (open), Bhatkuli (open), Achalpur (SC), Chikhaldara (ST), Amravati (Open). Morshi, Warud and Daryapur samitis are reserved for open category candidates while Teosa circle is reserved for OBC candidate and Dharni and Nandgoan Khandeshwar circles have been reserved for ST candidates. Though reservation for 14 panachayat samitis was declared on Saturday, election of Dharni, Teosa, Chandur Railway and Dhamangoan would not be held now. (Times of India 15/1/12) Focus on filling up backlog of SC, ST, OBC vacancies (25) ALLAHABAD: With the Central government's announcement for filling up the backlog of reserved vacancies of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) has expedited the process in this connection. The MHRD has send a letter to various Centrally governed institutions, including the Allahabad University, instructing them to furnish the information regarding the backlog of reserved vacancies which would be filled up by March 31. Under the drive, subjected re-launch of special recruitment drive to fill up the backlog reserved vacancies for SCs, STs & OBCs as on November 1, 2008 and persons with disabilities as on November 15, 2009, the vacancies would be filled up by end of March this year. Mentioned as most important and time-bound, the letter has also asked the officials of respective institutions to hold one-toone meetings with the joint secretary (administration), MHRD, and furnish the information of the latest progress they have made in the direction of filling the backlog vacancies. This re-launch of special recruitment drive would include institutions like IGNOU, ISM University, Dhanbad, NCERT, different NIT's like Calicut, Hamirpur, Jalandhar, Kurukshetra, Jaipur, Raipur Patna, Silchar, Srinivasanagar, IIT Kharagpur, etc, along with different other institutes like the Visva Bharti University. The information of the backlog vacancies has also been sought by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan which runs over thousand schools in the country. The MHRD letter follows the decision of the Union concerned for expediting the process of filling up the backlog vacancies wherein he has also asked for meeting of the joint secretary (administration) with the heads of institutions having a large number of identified vacancies reported under these drives. The letter bears significance in terms of AU as there are around 500 backlog vacancies of teaching and non-teaching posts, information about which has been complied. In October 2009, a special three-member expert committee comprising L B Mannikatti (retired IAS), Dr RP Gangurde

(former additional secretary, UGC) and Ashok Kumar Saroya UGC, had visited AU and its Constituent Colleges. The committee inspected the status of implementation of reservation policy for SC/ST in appointments to teaching and non-teaching posts and admission to various courses. After the inspection, the committee communicated a strong message to AU, the very next month, asking it to advertise the backlog vacancies (detailed numbers were mentioned in their report) within three weeks and fill the same within three months. The report of the committee, signed by Ashok Kumar Saroya of UGC, clearly showed that AU as well in its nine constituent colleges lack far behind when it comes to implementation of reservation policy. Although situation at AU is a bit better, the authorities of the constituent colleges have to go miles in complying with the government reservation policy. But now, with the MHRD again expediting the process of filling up of the backlog reserved vacancies, there is a ray of hope both for the institutions and the aspirants as the letter mentions about filling up of the said vacancies by March 31. AU public relations officer (PRO) Prof P K Sahoo, said, "MHRD has sent a letter in this regard and the AU has complied all relevant information which would be passed on at a meeting to be held at Delhi." MHRD Letter Holds Significance In Case Of AU As There Are Around 500 Posts Of Teaching And Non-Teaching Lying Vacant With the MHRD again expediting the process of filling up of the backlog reserved vacancies, there is a ray of hope both for the institutions and the aspirants as the letter mentions about filling up of the said vacancies by March 31.(Times of India 17/1/12). All eyes on the Muslim vote in Uttar Pradesh (25) LUCKNOW: The battle for Muslim votes is getting fiercer by the day in UP. All major parties, barring the BJP, are trying to come out with the best strategy to win over minority voters who have the power to influence results in over 130 seats. But BJP, too, is interested in this multi-corner contest for Muslim votes. If this leads to a polarization on communal lines, it would be the party to benefit the most. Congress has taken the lead announcing 4.5% minority quota and promising to make it 9% if voted to power, SP has announced an 18% quota for Muslims in government jobs and educational institutes. The BSP has not made any promise, but has given tickets to 84 Muslims (21% of the total 403 candidates), highest in comparison to the Congress's (61) and SP's (75), indicating it would give more representation to Muslims if it forms government. This has given a fresh lease of life to BJP. The party is using the minority quota issue to polarize votes on communal lines. The attempt is to woo Hindu backward classes whose share in the OBC quota has shrunk because of the 4.5% minority quota. "Congress is desperate to gain in UP because on it will depend the prime ministership of Rahul Gandhi. He has gone all out to woo Muslims. I would say the party is brazenly wooing one community. This is obviously a cause for concern for both BSP and SP. SP is more worried because its existence is based on the Muslim-Yadav combination, whereas BSP has an advantage of dalit support. Even a small percentage of Muslim votes will be enough for BSP which is also targeting other castes, particularly Brahmins," said analyst JP Shukla. For BJP, he said, the issue is a blessing in disguise. "It is clear from Nitin Gadkari's statement that the party would try its best to polarize Hindu OBCs," he added. "Muslims already figure in the OBC list for 27% reservation. Fixing of 4.5% minority quota under OBC quota would squeeze the space for dominant OBCs like Yadavs and Kurmis," he added.Muslims constitute 18% of UP's population and can tilt the balance in around 130 out of 403 assembly seats. The desperation to win Muslim votes can be gauged from the way parties are digging up old issues like the Batla House encounter and Salman Rushdie. BSP, though, has remained silent. Its supremo Mayawati was the first one to raise the issue in September last year by writing to the PM asking for a constitutional amendment to provide quota to dalit Muslims. Smaller parties have asked for quotas for dalit Muslims besides separate quota under OBC category. Muslims are 18% UP's population Can tilt balance in around 130 out of 403 Assembly seats Congress announced 4.5% minority quota, promised to make it 9% if voted to power. Tickets to 61 Muslims SP announced 18% quota for Muslims in govt jobs. Tickets to 75 Muslims BSP has not made any promise, but given tickets to 84 Muslims. (Times of India 18/1/12)

Now, plan for OBC quota in petrol pump allotment (25) New Delhi: With an eye on the OBC vote, the UPA government plans to introduce 27 per cent reservation in allotment of petrol pumps and LPG agencies for the economically and socially disadvantaged Other Backward Castes (OBCs). At present, only SC/STs get a quota of 25 per cent in such allotments, with another 25 per cent divided among defence personnel, paramilitary personnel, freedom fighters, physically disabled and sportspersons. After three rounds of meetings with state-run oil marketing

companies, the Petroleum Ministry has moved a proposal that quota in allotment of petrol pumps be restricted to two broad categories SCs/STs and OBCs with defence personnel etc adjusted as subgroups within these two. It would be later extended to LPG agencies as well, said ministry officials. Since it is required to include OBC, excepting the creamy layer, in the ambit of reservation and the total reservation cannot exceed 50 per cent... the SC/ST reservation has been revised to 22.5 per cent, says the proposal. The guidelines also propose dropping the existing 33 per cent reservation for women in each of the quotas in view of the complexity of implementing the same. Instead, it gives petrol pump owners the option to include spouses as equal partners. The ST quota remains unchanged in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram though, considering their dominance there. Incidentally, interviews to select the best among the shortlisted candidates are also being done away with. Instead, the selection would be through draw of lots among the eligible candidates. (Indian Expess (21/1/12) Jat quota stir: Year on, police summon 150 persons over Mayyar incident (25) HISAR: Courtesy the directions from Punjab and Haryana high court, police finally woke up to summon about 150 persons, allegedly involved in violent incidents during Jat Maha rally at Mayyar village of Hisar on September 13, 2010. Police have started sending summons to 150 persons, who were identified on the basis of video footage and press cuttings and photographers deployed by IG Hisar range on the day when the incident took place. These persons -- about 100 from Hisar district and 50 from other areas -had come to attend the Jat reservation rally in Mayyar village, 20 kms from here. However, the fate of the case registered against Subhash Yadav, the then SP, over the death of Sunil Sheoran, a youth, who allegedly died when policemen resorted to firing, to disperse the crowd, is not yet known, sources said. Representatives of Jat bodies, however, termed the latest move as a tool devised by police to pressurize them into withdrawing the murder case. On Tuesday morning, the Jat leaders, accompanied by Rajbala Devi, mother of Sunil Sheoran, met the deputy commissioner and submitted a memorandum. General secretary of Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, Mahender Singh Poonia, said, "During the talks with CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the CM assured us that justice will be done with Jat community. We were demanding OBC quota in government jobs, but police started lathicharge on those who were protesting peacefully in Mayyar. This is the fault of police who first killed our younger brother Sunil Sheoran and later registered a case against us. The cases registered against Jats are fake. The government must take back the cases at the earliest. Or else, we will again organize a Maha Jat Rally in the same village on February 19." (Times of India 25/1/12) Gujarat Universitys SC, ST candidates discuss their problems (25) Ahmedabad: - Of the 146 senate members in the Gujarat University (GU), only one elected senate member and one uncontested member are from schedule caste (SC). There are two members from schedule tribe (ST). - Of the post of 7 professors for the general category at the university, there is only 1 professor for the SC category, one for ST and 1 for OBC category. These are some of the figures procured through the Right to Information (RTI) Act - which were presented to Raju Parmar, who was on a visit to Gujarat University (GU) on Saturday. Parmar is a member of National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Members of the Gujarat State Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe College and University Teachers Association presented the statistics of SC candidates in teaching, non-teaching staff and senate body in a special meeting with Parmar to discuss their grievances at GU. Parmars visit to take stock of the SC employees circumstances at the states largest varsity was seen as a troublesome move for the GU vice-chancellor Parimal Trivedi against whom an atrocity case has been filed by Pankaj Shrimali. The matter is sub judice now. Parmar, though, insisted that his visit to GU is an annual routine exercise to take stock of implementation of reservation policy as per the University Grants Commission (UGC). After his two-hour meeting, Parmar told the media, I learnt that there is no representation from SC candidates in the senate and syndicate at the GU in contravention of UGC guidelines. There are also vacancies for teaching and non-teaching staff and if they are filled as per the UGC guidelines, many SC members will get job opportunities. So, I have requested the V-C to implement reservation policy as per the UGC guidelines. Parmar he visited all the universities in Gujarat including MS University, Dantiwada University and others. He said, At all the universities, issues related to implementation of reservation policy as per UGC guidelines remain the same. Since there are no liaison officers, the SC-ST cell is inactive. He also suggested SC representation in admission committee and other important committees at the varsity level. GU V-C Parimal Trivedi informed Parmar that an amendment in State Education Act would be required to implement his suggestion. (DNA 29/1/12)

UP witnessing unprecedented war over Muslim vote (25) New Delhi: With stakes high in the Assembly elections, the Muslim vote is being wooed like never before in Uttar Pradesh where Rahul Gandhi has also joined the race for quota politics. A virtually no-holdsbarred battle has erupted between the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the BSP to garner maximum vote of the minority community, which constitutes some 18 per cent of the 20 crore population. More players, like Peace Party and Ulema Council, have emerged on the state's political scene in a significant way to claim a share of the Muslim pie. BJP, which has always opposed the religion-based reservation, has been utilising the race among its opponents to fuel anger among the backwards projecting that the sub-quota for minorities would cut into their share. Ironically, the tussle over the sub-quota has been started by Congress, which had gone into political wilderness in the state decades ago, in the wake of the Mandal and Mandir upsurge. Political observers note that the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6,1992, also added to the miseries of the Congress. While Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid, one of the prominent Congress leaders from UP, has himself spoken of plans for a nine per cent reservation for backward Muslims in the state and the AICC has remained firmly behind him. The Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav in its manifesto has attempted to be one up by promising job reservation to the Muslims on the basis of population-which comes to 18 per cent. The party manifesto is silent on the details. The SP manifesto also promises to implement all recommendations of the Sachar commission, which went into the sorry plight of Muslims in the country. P Battling hard to retain power, Chief Minister Mayawati has sought to hold on to the Muslim support by writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sometime back for taking a "positive" initiative for introducing quota system in educational institutes and government jobs for minorities. In another letter to the Prime Minister, she has demanded reservation for Muslims on the basis of their population. Mayawati's social engineering in the last Assembly elections has led to her victory which is seen as a defining moment in Indian politics. While the Congress Manifesto is expected to be made public in a few days, the party's "Vision Document 2020" for Uttar Pradesh speaks of plans to provide reservation to backward Muslims as per their population. A Congress leader belonging to the minority community aptly remarked that what the Congress was attempting was to win back its constituency which had gone to leaders like Mulayam Singh and Mayawati. The Congress move on quota politics has come at a time when the last Lok Sabha polls had witnessed Yadav, priding over his hold on the "MY" (Muslim+Yadav) combination, suffered erosion in the minority base after making common cause with Kalyan Singh. Singh was the BJP Chief Minister when the Babri Masjid was demolished. Samajwadi Party has also promised job reservation on basis of population ratio which means 18-19 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. The state already has 21 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes, 2 per cent for Scheduled Tribes and 27 per cent for OBCs. With the Supreme Court cap of 50 per cent on reservation, it is not clear how reservation to 18 per cent Muslims in UP "in proportion to their population" will be provided. Muslims are expected to influence the outcome of the UP results in at least 130 constituencies where their numbers are large. Keeping this in mind, the BSP has fielded 84 Muslim candidates, the Samajwadi Party 75 and the Congress 61. Mulayam Singh Yadav is also seeking help from Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, to retain his constituency. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has been dismissing as "hollow promise" Yadav's announcement of giving 18 per cent quota outside the OBC bracket to Muslims contending that his party would never have the strength in Parliament to amend the Constitution to take the total quota quantum above the 50 per cent ceiling. In other promises to Muslims, the SP manifesto says innocent youths held in criminal cases would be released and paid compensation while officials would be punished; efforts will be made to recruit them in security forces; and at least one Muslim would be appointed to government panels. Other things promised by Mulayam Singh's party include making a law at the state level to keep waqf property away from acquisition, another on welfare and development of dargahs (mausoleums), special budgetary provisions for technical education in madrasas and inclusion of at least one member of the Muslim community in all commissions, boards and committees of the state government. The tussle for the Muslim and the OBC vote has hotted up amid the general belief that the BSP's hold on its traditional vote bank of dalits was generally intact. (Express India 30/1/12) 10pc quota to poor upper caste needs discussion: Digvijay (25) Lucknow, Feb 1: Congress today went on the back foot over the reservation for the poor of the upper caste promised by the party during the 2007 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. '' The issue is big and a national debate between the political parties and others should be held for a consensus over the

reservation for the upper caste poor,'' said Congress General secretary and in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh here .Mr Singh, along with Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajiv Shukla, addressing a news conference, admitted that in the 2007 assembly elections the party had promised to give 10 per cent reservation to the poor of the upper caste.'' First of all we could not come in power in the state in 2007 besides the issue needs broader discussion,'' he added. He also defended the Congress's manifesto promising sub-quota to the most backward and most backward dalits.'' Such promise have been made to rationalise the reservation system and to uplift the castes who were yet to receive the benefit.'' he said. The Congress leader refuted the allegation of UP Chief Minister Mayawati that CBI is not probing fast in the corruption cases in which Central ministers are involved like it was doing in the NRHM scam. '' CBI is an independent body and it was working efficiently without any interference,'' he said adding that the Centre had never compromised with corruption and even ordered probe against its own ministers. He alleged that Ms Mayawati might have removed several ministers but new cases for corruption have been registered against them which shows her effort to safeguard the interest of these corrupt political leaders. (UNI) (New Kerala 2/2/12) BJP warns of stir if minority quota proposal is not dropped (25) BANGALORE, February 4, 2012: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday warned the Centre of launching a public movement if it did not drop its proposal to carve out a 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities from the 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Central government jobs and educational institutions. A public meeting of prominent leaders of all the backward class communities organised by the party's Backward Classes' Morcha expressed concern over the decision since it would reduce their reservation quota. Terming this as an injustice to OBCs, the morcha declared that it would take its fight to the President and that the party would not rest till justice was done. BJP State unit president K.S. Eshwarappa said the party would launch an agitation in every village against the UPA's decision to reduce the OBC reservation quota. It would also organise a massive public meeting in April in Bangalore. Stir threat Pointing out that the UPA was planning to introduce a Bill in Parliament regarding the proposed reservation, Mr. Eshwarappa remarked: There will be a rebellion in every street if that happens. He said the party would present a memorandum to the Centre through Governor H.R. Bhardwaj in about a week appealing for withdrawal of the decision. Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda described the public meeting of OBCs as a warning bell to the UPA Government. Party national general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs Dharmendra Pradhan made it clear that the party was not against welfare of minorities, but it should not be at the cost of OBCs. Speaking on the occasion, the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa predicted an early election to the Lok Sabha. He urged the party to strive for winning at least 23 of the 28 seats in the State to help the NDA to form its government at the Centre. Party national general secretary Ananth Kumar asked the party workers to burn the copies of the orders on reducing the OBC reservation quota in all the prominent circles of the State to send a strong message to the Centre. Morcha president P.C. Mohan spoke. Several Ministers, including R. Ashok, Suresh Kumar, Jagadish Shettar and Govind Karjol, attended the meeting. (The Hindu 4/2/12) Khurshid pitches for sub-categorisation of OBCs (25) New Delhi, February 05, 2012: At a time when Congress is making a serious bid to rope in people from the backward Muslim community in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Law Minister Salman Khurshid has made a strong pitch for sub-categorisation of the Other Backward Classes. "Government is within its legitimate rights to make sub-categorisation among the OBCs, which would lead to more equitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes/communities included in the broad category of OBC," the Minister said. In an article in the latest issue of the party's official mouthpiece 'Congress Sandesh', Khurshid quoted extensively from reports of Sachar Commission, Rangnath Mishra Commission and the famous Supreme Court judgement in the Indira Sawhney and others versus Union of India and others to hammer home his point. Apparently to buttress the point that the talk about sub-castes among OBC is not something new, the Union Minister has pointed out that while 30 states and Union Territories have their own list of OBCs in the state list, nine states have sub-categories in the state list of OBCs. Citing the findings of Sachar Committee that went into the issue of the socio-economic backwardness of Muslims, Khurshid says in the statement, "Sachar Committee also had recommended for affirmative action for Muslims in India through separate reservation." Khurshid said although the backward sections of minority population were included in the central list of OBC, there has been a growing demand over the last two decades that a separate quota was required for the minorities given the fact that major sections of

minorities are most backward in the country. The minister also pointed out that the Sachar Committee held that by clubbing all categories of Muslims in an all-encompassing OBC list, the Mandal Commission that provided 27 reservation for OBCs, "overlooked disparity in the nature of deprivations" that some sections of the community faced. "Sachar Committee mentioned that it would be most appropriate if they were absorbed in the SC list or at least in a separate category, Most Backward Classes (MBCs) carved out of the OBCs," Khurshid said. In the poll-manifesto released for Uttar Pradesh some days back, Congress promised minorities timely implementation of the UPA government's policy of 4.5 per cent quota in central government jobs, PSUs and educational institutions. The party has also mentioned of providing a sub quota for the minorities in Uttar Pradesh as part of OBC quota in state government jobs and educational institutions commensurate to their population. The manifesto also talks about special provisions for the MBCs. Justifying the 4.5 reservation given to the backward minorities from the 27 OBC quota in central government jobs and admission, the Law Minister said in the article, "only backward sections of the community can avail of the 4.5 per cent sub quota. Therefore the inclusion or the exclusion in the central list of OBC list will be strictly on the basis of backwardness of minorities." The journal also also mentioned the January 4 decision of the Union Cabinet in which a proposal was cleared to fill pending vacancies of the SC/ST and OBCs in central government -- a move that will benefit around 50,000 people. "The proposal, discussed and approved in the Cabinet meeting comes soon after the government decision to allow 4.5 per cent reservation to the minorities within the OBC quota," the journal said. (Hindustan Times 5/2/12) Despite 50% reservation, poor response from women applicants (25) Pune: To provide equal opportunity to women in politics, the state government decided on 50 per cent reservation for women in local civic bodies. However, in the first election after the decision, the response from women aspirants in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been poor vis-a-vis the number applications received from men. According to the PMC election office, the number of women applicants this year is 1,260 as against 2,080 applications by men. On the other hand, however, the number of women contesting from seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) is almost the same as the number of men applying under these categories. In general category, 1,495 men have applied for a ticket, while only 742 application were received from women. But in the OBC category, 331 women and 389 male candidates have applied for seats. There have been 174 applications from women to contest on seats reserved for SC candidates, while 180 men have submitted applications under the category. For the seats reserved in the ST category, 13 women and 16 men have applied. "It was the NCP that urged for 50 per cent reservation for women in civic bodies. I am happy that participation of women in the election campaign has increased in the civic polls this time," said NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Meanwhile, political parties struggled to get women candidates for civic polls. The strong base for Congress and NCP ensured that women candidates were available, but it was not same for other political parties, especially the MNS. "The Congress has a strong women's cadre. There was no problem in deciding the women candidates. In fact, it provided opportunities to many women to get into politics," said state Congress chief Kamal Vyavhare. An MNS leader, however, said it was not possible for the party to get good candidates in some seats reserved for women. (The Financial Express 6/2/12) Quota for SCs in MCD polls; HC seeks response from poll panel (25) NEW DELHI: The Delhi High court today sought a response from the State Election Commission on a plea seeking to quash a notification of upcoming polls for trifurcated MCD on the ground that seats for SC candidates have been reserved in an "unreasonable and arbitrary" manner. "Issue notice to the State Election Commission," a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Rajiv Shakdher said and posted the case for hearing on February 15. The court was hearing the petition of Vikas, a sitting MCD councillor of Congress party from Majnu Ka Tila in North Delhi, who alleged the notification, issued on January 27 by the poll body, has reserved seats for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates on the basis of the population in assembly seats and ignored their numbers in municipal wards. "The petitioner is challenging the notification whereby assembly constituencies in North Delhi Municipal Corporation with the highest per centage of SC population in descending order has been selected. "It is pertinent to mention that in the municipal election, the basis for the criteria of merit of highest per centage of SCs population in descending order must be the municipal wards for which the councillors will be elected and not the assembly constituency," the petition said. Reserving seats for SC candidates by considering their

population in assembly segments have led to a situation where unreserved wards have more SC voters than the reserved ones, it said, adding the criteria should have been the per centage of their population in civic wards. Earlier, BJP councillar from Kapashera Anil Yadav and a lawyer had moved the court on the same issue. (Times of India 7/2/12) Women's commissions seek 33% quota in assemblies and Parliament (25) SHILLONG: Saying there is gender discrimination in the northeast when it comes to politics, women's commissions in the states of the region have pressed for 33 per cent reservation for women in assemblies and Parliament. The representation of women in the region - which has a population of around 38.5 million (2001 census) - is a mere 4.5 per cent, with only 21 women legislators in the seven legislative assemblies that have a total strength of 466. "There is gender discrimination when it comes to women in politics. We had tried our best to convince our men to allow women to take part in the electoral battle, but all in vain," Mizoram State Women's Commission chairperson Lalnipuii said. There is no representation of the fairer sex in the Mizoram and Nagaland assemblies. "This (no women's representation) is very discouraging even though women are good, if not better, than men," she said. (Times of India 10/2/12) Muslims demand 10% job quota (25) HYDERABAD: The All India Muslim Minority Organization (AIMMO) has demanded that the government allocate at least Rs 1,000 crore of the state budget for the development of Muslims and allot at least 10% job reservation for aspirants from the community. Discussing minority issues with various political party representatives and other organizations from across the state, the speakers also stressed that wakf land be protected and special attention be paid to education of Muslim women. Justifying their demand for 10 % reservation, the speakers referred to the Sachar Committee report that had shown Muslims were as backward as SCs, STs and BCs. MA Siddiqui, former state secretary, TDP, said, "Muslims should be given 10% to 15% reservation. The government should also allocate a minimum of Rs 1,000 crore of the state budget for welfare of Muslims and development of Urdu language." Syed Muqtar Hussain, chairman, AIMMO, said that the Congress repeatedly uses the issue of reservation for Muslim candidates only as an election gimmick. Farooq Ahmed of Telangana JAC said that other marginalized sections of society that enjoyed reservation had steered ahead of the Muslim community, and now people have no choice but to go abroad in search of jobs. (Times of India 14/2/12) BJP terms Cong minority quota promise a 'planned strategy' (25) Lucknow: Reacting to Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma's statement on minority quota, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has termed the incident as a 'planned strategy' of the Congress to woo Muslims. Talking to reporters here, BJP leader Balbir Punj said: "Congress ministers are making a mockery of the Model Code of Conduct. They are working under the shelter of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. They are weakening our democracy." "This government is spreading communalism in country. They are trying to divide India on the basis of caste," he added. Punj further said that if a single incident would have happened, then "we can say that it's a mistake, but Congress leaders are criticizing the Election Commission again and again." Earlier, addressing a rally in Farrukhabad, Verma said, "We will make sure that enhanced reservation is given to backwards and the minorities if the Congress Party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh." He also said that Muslims have not got their dues and added that nonCongress governments in the state have done nothing to improve their lot. Verma said that he was least bothered about the Election Commission taking action against him on his statement. Earlier, Law Minister Salman Khurshid had promised an increase of nine per cent sub-quota for Muslims within the 27 percent reservation meant for Other Backward Classes (OBC). The Election Commission thereafter issued a notice to Khurshid, saying his remarks had violated the Model Code of Conduct. It sought the ''immediate and decisive'' intervention of President Pratibha Devisingh Patil after it charged Khurshid with ''improper and unlawful'' defiance of its orders under which he was censured for promising a sub-quota for minorities. President Patil sent the Election Commission's complaint against Khurshid to the Prime Minister's Office for appropriate action. However, the Election Commission put a lid on the standoff after Khurshid expressed regret for his defiance of the poll body. (ANI) (DNA 16/2/12) Beni Prasad Verma dares EC, says quota for Muslims will be hiked (25) FARUKKHABAD (UP): After Salman Khurshid, Union steel minister Beni Prasad Verma dared the

Election Commission to take action against him when he declared that quota for Muslims would be increased. "Reservation for Muslims will be increased and if the EC wants, it can now issue notice to me," Verma said while addressing a rally at Kaimganj last night in the presence of Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh and Union law minister Khurshid. The minister said Khurshid was "honestly fighting for the Muslims".Referring to the row between EC and Khurshid, Beni said that if Congress comes to power, then they would work for more reservation. Khurshid had last week triggered a controversy by stating that he would continue to speak on nine per cent sub-quota for minorities even if the Election Commission "hangs me".The EC had yesterday put a lid on the standoff with Khurshid after he expressed regrets over his "defiance" of the poll body over his remarks on subquota for minorities. During a separate election meeting organised in the city, Khurshid, while campaigning in support of his wife and Congress candidate Louis Khurshid, said that when he said the same thing in Parliament (on quota) nobody said anything and when he repeated it in Farukkhabad, hullabaloo was created. He said besides reservation, there were number of others laws which would benefit the poor, farmers and workers. The minister promised higher compensation for farmers whose land would be acquired. Apparently referring to BJP leader Arun Jaitely, Khurshid said that when he talks about Muslims, the BJP leader says that he talks about only one community. "I want to ask why he is opposed to one community".To a question on union steel minister Beni Prasad Verma's statement in Farrukhabad on enhancing Muslim reservation, Singh said that it was not a violation of the model code of conduct. "Mentioning what is in the election manifesto is not a violation of model code of conduct and I have also said the same in meetings", he said adding that in the case of Salman Khursheed the EC argument was that it was a promise which was made before the manifesto was released. On noted Shia Muslim leader Kalbe Jawwad threatening to oppose Congress on Delhi Karbala issue and hold a road show in Lucknow, Singh said that Congress has agreed to the issues raised by him and it would be sorted out soon. He requested Jawwad not to make an issue concerning Delhi an election issue in UP. The Congress general secretary while welcoming the gaddi nashin of dargah Ajmer Sharif, Syed Gulam Kibriya Dastgir who came out in support of the Congress said that Sangh was involved in the blast in Ajmer. To a question if Dastgir was an answer to SP's Iman Bukhari, he said that though the former is a symbol of communal harmony the latter was communal. (Times of India 16/2/12) Beni does Khurshid, Cong says its quota talk time (25) New Delhi: The Election Commission may have pulled up Union law minister Salman Khurshid for his 9% minority sub-quota promise, and he may have apologised to bring an end to this row. But the Congress is in no mood to give up this quota talk in the middle of its election campaign in UP. We respect all constitutional authorities. But then to talk about the promises referred to in the manifesto is the most suitable thing at the moment, said Mohan Prakash, chairperson of the partys steering committee for Uttar Pradesh. He was defending Union steel minister Beni Prasad Vermas repetition of the promises made by Khurshid. Addressing a rally at Kaimganj in Farukkhabad on Wednesday night, Verma said, Reservation for Muslims will be increased and if the EC wants, it can now issue notice to me. Wooing the minority vote is an important component of the partys revival strategy in UP, and the ECs stance notwithstanding it does not see any reason to make any changes at this juncture. If we do not promise to improve the lot of minorities, then what are we expected to say during election campaigns? Can we deny that the minorities are a disadvantaged lot and deserve special treatment, said a senior party functionary. (DNA 17.2.12)

Jaats of Bharatpur and Dholpur demand OBC status (25) JAIPUR: The jat community in Dholpur and Alwar, who are deprived of the status of Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the state, will be joining the jats of Haryana in their ongoing stir demanding the same status. Many people from Bharatpur and Dholpur districts are going to Hisaar in Haryana where the jat community has parked itself on railway tracks. The reason being that jats in the entire state except for Dholpur and Bharatpur are getting reservation as OBCs. The jats in these two districts have also threatened of interrupting rail operations at Ajarka station between Jaipur and Delhi on February 27. Rajasthan Jat Aarakshan Aandolan general secretary Maha Singh Chaudhary addressing a press conference on Tuesday said the state government has been misguiding the jats of Dholpur and Bharatpur for a long time. "We have waited for long and it is high time we intensify our movement to get an OBC status enjoyed by our community members in other districts," Chaudhary added. Meanwhile, three trains

on their way to Haryana and Punjab from Rajasthan remained cancelled, while six other trains remained partially cancelled, sources said. "The cancelled trains included Amritsar-Jaipur express, Rewari-Bhiwani and Bhiwani-Rewari fast passenger," an NWR official said. (Times of India 22/2/12) 4.5% reservation for minorities in IITs from this year (7) There is good news for IIT aspirants from the minority community. The IIT-JEE Admission Committee has decided to implement 4.5 per cent reservation for them within the 27 per cent seats meant for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from this year. Those minority candidates who had submitted the application forms online and have not mentioned their status can do so on the IIT-JEE website http://jee.iitd.ac.in/obcminority.php by giving an undertaking that they have a minority status and would submit the certificate before the exam on April 8. The undertaking has to be given to the respective zonal offices before March 20. IIT-JEE Chairman G.B. Reddy said the application forms did not carry this information as this development was recent. He asked the students to submit the undertaking first and later submit the certificate to claim reservation. We are giving enough time for candidates to secure the certificate. Non-submission of certificate will result in candidates not being considered for the category as a separate list will be prepared, he said. It is for the State government to decide who fits in the minority category and certificate issued by the tehsildar concerned will be valid. Following the reservation, around 430 minority candidates are likely to get admission in the 17 IITs across the country going by last year's figure of total 9,500 odd seats. Professor Reddy said the final figure would be available after March 25, when the IITs have been asked to submit the list of availability of seats. Some IITs increase the seats and some others introduce new programmes. IIT-Hyderabad has written to the JEE Chairman that it will start two new programmes this year Civil Engineering and Engineering Science, with 25 seats each. So far 5,07,607 applications have been received by the IITs, slight increase from last year's figure. But the final number may change as some candidates have applied in two zones, while some others have failed to provide the necessary documents. We are writing to all such candidates to choose the zone they wish to appear in and also submit the documents immediately. The variation may not be huge, Professor Reddy said. Kanpur zone saw maximum applicants this year. Madras zone received about 78,000 applications. Last year, Bombay zone received the maximum applications. We have altered the allocation of cities, where exam will be held, to different zones to ensure equal workload, he said. (The Hindu 24/2/12) CPI-M to launch stir for reserving jobs for Muslims (25) Agartala: The Left Front government in Tripura wants to reserve 10 percent of government jobs for Muslims but is concerned about the legal hurdles, a leader of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said on Sunday. "The Left Front government wanted amendment of the Indian constitutions to provide 10 percent reservation for Muslims in government jobs," said Tripura Left Front convenor Khagen Das, who is also a member of the Lok Sabha. Das told reporters that the Supreme Court had ruled that no state could cross 50 percent reservation in government jobs and for other purposes. Tripura has already 48 percent reservation -- 31 percent for the tribals and 17 percent for the scheduled castes, he said. Das, also a member of the CPI-M central committee, said that the Left parties have been demanding implementation of the recommendation of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (NCRLM), also called as Ranganath Misra Commission. The NCRLM headed by former Chief Justice of India Justice Ranganath Misra, had submitted its report to the government on May 21, 2007 recommending 10 percent quota for Muslims and 5 percent for other minorities in government jobs. According to the 2001 census, Muslims comprised eight percent of Tripura's 3.2 million population. Their percentage, according to the 2011 census, is yet to be calculated. The CPI-M, the dominant partner of the ruling Left Front in Tripura, has announced a two-month-long, state-wide agitation in support of their 14-point demands, that include relaxation of the period for non-tribals to get pattas (title deeds) under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2005. It wanted same norms for non-tribals and tribals for getting the land titles. Currently, the law states that tribals living in forest for last 75 years are eligible for the land titles, while the time frame for nontribals is more. "We have been demanding that the central act should be modified suitably, and reduce the stipulated years, so that the non-tribals also get the patta along with tribals," Das said. The Left party, which would launch its agitation on Mar 11, also demanded to the center to announce a special package for the unemployed youths of northeastern region. (Zee News 26/2/12) SC cancels management quota in tech universities (25)

NOIDA: The Supreme Court has ordered the cancellation of management quota in technical colleges of Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, this quota was kept at 15% of the total seats with 5% reservation for NRI students. The two technical universities in the district, Gautam Buddh Technical University (GBTU) and Mahamaya Technical University host the entrance examinations on a rotational basis. University officials explained that the management quota is essentially a misnomer and have been used in the past to facilitate unfair admission practices. "There is technically no management quota. We had 15% reservation for NRI students, but since the admission of such students is very rare, the university would admit students on those seats through the management quota," explained a GBTU official. According to the organiser of UPSEE, Gautam Buddh Technical University, admission for NRI candidates will begin from May for all the first year courses, except MBA and MCA. But for this, the colleges need get approval from the All India Council of Technical Education. "Forms for MCA and MBA will be available online and for the first time the entrance examinations for the same will also take place online," added the official. The forms for B.Tech will be available online from March 3. During the UPSEE in 2011, only 4,959 forms were submitted by students for B.Tech. Seventy-five per cent of B.Tech and B.Arch seats will be filled through SEE while 20% through AIEEE. Seventy-five per cent of the MBA seats will be filled through SEE and 20% through CMAT and other courses. MCA will get 95% of admissions through SEE. (Times of India 1/3/12) High Court rejects pleas against quota (25) New Delhi, March 1, 2012: A bunch of pleas seeking quashing of the State Election Commission's notification, reserving seats for woman and Scheduled Caste candidates for the upcoming MCD polls after its trifurcation, was dismissed on Wednesday by the Delhi High Court. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Rajiv Shakdher dismissed the pleas made by various MCD councillors, saying that it finds nothing wrong in the mode and manner of reservation of the seats for woman and SC candidates by the poll panel. We find nothing wrong with the action of the State Election Commission qua the mode and manner of reservation of seats for the SC and the women and, thus, dismiss the writ petitions leaving the parties to bear their own costs, the bench said. The court, in its 55-page judgement, did not find fault with the delegation of power either by the Delhi Government to the SEC to earmark wards and reserve them for the SC and woman candidates. We are of the unequivocal view that no fault can be found with the delegation of power under Section 490B of the said Act (Delhi Municipal Corporation Act) by the notification dated January 24, 2012 and the challenge to the same is misplaced. In our opinion, the fact that the Central and the State governments in exercise of the powers conferred under the DMC Act have chosen to delegate this function, by issuance of notification under Section 490A and 490B of the DMC Act respectively, does not in any manner, in our opinion, erode the independent constitutional status enjoyed by the SEC under the Constitution, said Justice Kaul, writing the judgement. The court dismissed as many as twelve petitions against the SEC notification of January 27, by which a list of reserved seats in all three Corporations of Delhi on the basis of 2001 Census was prepared. PTI (The Hindu 1/3/12) Jats call off stir, to wait for panel report (25) Chandigarh: The ongoing protest by Jats in various parts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan was called off on Saturday evening after Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda assured the protestors that their demands pertaining to reservation in government jobs will be considered within six months after the Haryana Backward Classes Commission submits its report. However, the Jats will formally announce their decision only after consulting the members of their community who are currently sitting on hungerstrike by Sunday afternoon in Hisar district. Both sides the Haryana government and representatives of the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) reached a solution to the tussle after Hooda met 26 leaders of various Jat organisations and Khaps at his residence in Chandigarh. The meeting continued for four hours. A senior AIJASS leader, Dharampal, said: The chief minister has assured us that once the Commissions report is submitted, he will implement reservation quota for us in government jobs. We will take these assurances to other members of our organisation, who are sitting on a chain hungerstrike in Ramayan village in Hisar, and discuss with the members of our community on Sunday. If they agree, we will formally call off our agitation. A large number of Jats, mainly representatives of AIJASS led by Yashpal Malik have been holding protests over the last three weeks against Haryana government and the Centre for not introducing reservation quota for Jats in government jobs. They were also demanding that cases registered against them be immediately withdrawn. (The Indian Express 4/3/12)

Unlike IIT, no mechanism at AIIMS to help quota students (25) Anil Kumar Meena, the 22-year-old who was found hanging in an AIIMS hostel room on Sunday, is the second reserved category student who allegedly committed suicide on the campus in the last two years. Like Anil, Balmukund Bharti, who was found hanging in 2010, cleared the AIIMS entrance examination in Hindi but struggled to cope with a course curriculum in English. The two incidents the latest has led to an uproar on the campus with MBBS students boycotting an examination on Monday and demanding the resignation of the Director have returned the spotlight on the 2007 report of the Thorat Committee, which investigated allegations of caste discrimination at AIIMS. Most recommendations of the threemember committee headed by the then UGC chairman Sukhadeo Thorat are still to be implemented. Consider these: The committee, on the basis of a need expressed by 84 per cent of SC/ST students, recommended remedial coaching in English language, and basic courses. While question papers for the institutes all-India entrance examination are in both English and Hindi, the course curriculum and all examinations are only in English. He (Anil) was struggling in English, but no one came to his help. The institute is supposed to conduct remedial English language courses, but we have not heard of such classes, said Tungish Bansal, president of the undergraduate students union. But AIIMS Sub-Dean Dr Rakesh Yadav said optional English courses were conducted regularly. We have conducted around 40 classes from April 2010 to May 2011, taken by a special English tutor, Dr Yadav said. Only basic spoken English, he said, is addressed in these classes and not the course content. The Thorat Committee stated that AIIMS should introduce the formal system of consultation between SC/ST students and faculty with display of schedule, not leaving it to informal and open-ended methods of consultation. (Indian Express 6/3/12) Congress, BJP failed to cash in on quota plank (25) NEW DELHI: Quota emerged as a big wedge issue during the UP poll campaign as Congress picked up a big fight with both BJP and Election Commission. In the end, however, the Centre's decision to carve out an exclusive quota for Muslims OBCs out of the larger OBC reservation pie did not benefit either Congress or its rivals. Muslims' big role in SP's emphatic win, a storm by UP standards, is a clear evidence that Congress failed to derive mileage out of a decision it had taken with an eye on assembly polls. In fact, the Cabinet cleared the controversial proposal just a day before the Model Code of Conduct kicked in with the EC's announcement of poll dates. The electioneering saw Congress selling the proposal as a new deal for "backwards" who constitute a significant section of Muslim population and who have increasingly been chaffing at the domination of the ashrafs - equivalents of Hindu upper castes. Samajwadi Party immediately responded to it by offering an 18% quota for Muslims out of the Mandal pie. Congress's protest that it was the author of the proposal and SP was merely mimicking it failed to deter the Samajwadis from cornering the overwhelming chunk of Muslim vote. Just as Congress, BJP also failed to cash in on its opposition to the quota. The party had no competition as, unlike others, it had not to worry about losing Muslim vote. Both Uma Bharti and Babu Singh Kushwaha campaigned on the "assault on the rights of OBCs" plank, but made no headway with SP emerging as clear favourites of OBCs as well. Rather, it might have backfired by alienating the upper caste urban voter. (Times of India 7/3/12)

Jat agitation: Protestors serve ultimatum (25) Hisar (Haryana): The agitating Jats, demanding job quota for them, today served an ultimatum asking Haryana government to unconditionally release by tomorrow all those who had been taken into custody during the movement and threatened to intensify their stir if the demand was not met. "The government should order release of all those Jat protesters who had been taken into custody two days ago," Jitender Chattar of All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti said here. He said they will give the government time till tomorrow afternoon to act after which they will intensify their stir and block all the roads to Delhi and other parts besides launching their agitation in other parts of the country. Hisar, located 155 km from the national capital, had been virtually come under a siege of the protesters demanding OBC quota. Meanwhile, Delhi-Hisar highway which had remained blocked yesterday opened to road traffic. The district administration had yesterday ordered closure of all educational institutions for three days. Security forces had conducted a flag march here last evening as Hisar remained on the boil. Uneasy calm prevailed in the district today. At Garhi village near here, mobs smashed window panes of trucks

triggering a major jam on national highway last evening. The protesters had placed tree trunks on roads at some places. Jats are seeking reservation in government jobs for the community in OBC category and have accused Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of "going back on promises" in this regard.(Zee News 8/3/12) Jat agitation eases as over 100 protesters released (25) Hisar, March 11, 2012: Over 100 people, who were arrested during a Jat agitation for job reservation under the OBC quota, were released on Sunday. The stir, meanwhile, showed signs of easing. Community leaders, however, said they have not yet called off their protests, and a final decision will be taken. The courts in Hisar and Tohana on Sunday ordered the release of 74 and 29 Jat protesters respectively. They were arrested on charges of arson and violence during the over three-week-long agitation. However, police investigation and collection of evidence against the accused would continue, sources said, adding that the cases have not been withdrawn. Though road blockades in many areas were lifted early on Sunday, they were put up again by afternoon. Leaders of the community said the stir has not been withdrawn, and the final decision will be taken at Mayar panchayat after the cremation of Sandeep, who was killed in clashes between protesters and security personnel on March 6. Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was supposed to meet the protesters, did not turn up due to official reasons.(Hindustan Times 11/3/12) Purandeswari bats for women's quota Bill (25) BANGALORE, March 12, 2012: Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari on Sunday said that equality and development could not be achieved without the active participation of women and the incorporation of their perspectives at all levels of decision making. Inaugurating the first branch of Kamma Mahila Souharda Credit Cooperative Ltd. in the State, the Minister said women empowerment could be possible in the real sense only by the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill. Despite legislation of every kind to tackle issues such as female foeticide, child labour, harassment at work place and domestic violence, exploitation of women was growing unhindered. Little has been achieved in protecting the interests of women and much needs to be done to fulfil the dream of gender equality, she said. T. Radhakrishnan, Additional Director-General of Police, Tamil Nadu; Muvva Chandrashekar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bangalore; and M. Narasimhappa, former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, were present. (The hindu 12/3/12) Jats call off agitation, remove blockade (25) HISAR: The 23-day old agitation by Jat community in Haryana seeking quota in government jobs was finally called off Monday. The Jat leadership has set Sep 13 as deadline for the Haryana government to implement the quota. The agitators removed the blockade of roads in Hisar district, including National Highway No. 10 (NH-10) and other roads and railways tracks. Most of these blockades were near Mayyar village in Hisar district, 25 km from here. The agitators also cremated the body of a youth, Sandeep, 20, who was killed in firing during a clash of the police with agitators last Tuesday.Jat leader Dharampal Chhot said a meeting of the Jat leadership with leaders of various Khaps Monday decided to end the agitation for now. "We will see what action does the Haryana government takes on our reservation demand," Chhot said. Over 100 leaders of the agitating Jat community were released by the authorities in Haryana Sunday evening, but the community leaders refused to call off the agitation immediately. The Bhupinder Singh Hooda government was left embarrassed Sunday after the Jats did not end their stir even after their leaders' release, despite the state government announcing that the agitation had ended. The leaders, who were arrested last week as the agitation seeking Other Backward Classes (OBC) category quota for Jats in government jobs turned violent, were released after courts in Hisar and Tohana towns allowed their release. The agitating Jats had set the condition that no talks would take place till their leadership was released. The stir by Jats left the Hooda government embarrassed on at least three occasions in the last fortnight. After talks with Jat leaders and those from Khaps (community courts), the Hooda government announced that an agreement had been reached with the agitators and that the agitation had ended. However, the Jats continued their agitation and blockades. Last week's violence had left one youth dead and nearly 25 others injured. The youth was killed in exchange of fire between the police and protesters. The body of the victim was kept in a glass coffin at the main agitation point since Wednesday, and the Jats refused to perform his last rites. Normal life was thrown out of gear in Hisar district and adjoining areas of Bhiwani, Jind and Rohtak districts as the agitating community continued

their blockade of roads and railway tracks last week. Supplies of fuel and other essential commodities in the district had been severely hit during the agitation. Jats had decided to intensify their agitation after the Haryana government refused to release their leaders, and road and rail services to Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and other parts of Haryana were severely affected due to the blockade. The protesters also placed trees and boulders on the highways connecting Hisar with Delhi, Jind, Bhiwani and Chandigarh and also blocked the Hisar-Delhi and Hisar-Bathinda railway tracks. The Jats blame Hooda for going back on earlier promises and using delaying tactics and force to break up the agitation.(NIE 13/3/12) Untouchable theyyams seek ST status (25) KOCHI: Even as other tribes higher up in the caste hierarchy have gone on to garner Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, the Kalanadi tribe of Wayanad are yet to benefit from the decades-old reservation policy. Bereft of other options, its members, who seasonally perform as theyyams and komarams in temples, have sought the Kerala high court's intervention. Though Kalanadis were recommended for ST status by the state government in 1964, the Central government hasn't granted it yet, which is crucial to sustaining the community, their petition said. They have also challenged a Central government notification granting ST status to communities that traditionally considered Kalanadis as untouchables. Tribes like the Kuruma have been designated ST while Kalanadis are still Other Eligible Community. Till not long ago, if a member of the Kalanadi community happened to have food or water from a Kuruma house, the plates or glasses had to be cleansed through special religious rituals. According to programmes outlined by state government's department of Scheduled Caste development, only members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes can avail benefits of the government's three-fold programmes that include education, economic development, and social upliftment and welfare schemes. Due to continuous neglect, the number of Kalanadis in the state has dwindled to 93 families and 379 members. None of the Kalanadis in the state have been able to get a government job yet while the number of professionals in the community is three two B Tech graduates and one MCA graduate. (Times of India 14/3/12) HC stays Nagpur University hiring over blind man's plea (25) NAGPUR: A blind man has moved the high court here alleging flouting of rules by Nagpur University in appointment of lecturers. A division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice Prasanna Varale, on Wednesday, stayed the entire recruitment process of the university. The court also issued notices to the respondents including UGC chairman Ved Prakash, NU vice-chancellor Vilas Sapkal and state secretary for higher and technical education, directing them to file reply within two weeks. Rajesh Asudani (35), a meritorious candidate who aspired to be a lecturer, had argued in-person during first hearing but taking into consideration his blindness, the court appointed Ashutosh Dharmadhikari as amicus curiae to plead his case. He claimed that NU violated Persons with Disabilities (Equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) act, 1995, in its advertisements for recruitment of professors, associate and assistant professors. He said these advertisements provided reservation for the disabled but "subject to availability" and stated that preference would be given to physically handicapped. He added that advertisements failed to specify the exact nature of disability and were against various circulars issued by UGC, Government of Maharashtra, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and also against the settled laws established by judgments of Supreme Court and various high courts. Asudani, working with RBI as Class-I officer, pointed out that NU had issued advertisements for lecturers' recruitment three times in five years - on July 13, 2007, March 26, 2008 and August 30, 2011. The petitioner contended that reservation of posts for disabled persons under Sections 32 and 33 were binding on all the establishments but NU disregarded them in letter and spirit while reserving only four posts for physically handicapped persons, that too making it "subject to availability". He took strong objection to this rider terming it as patently illegal and militating against the letter and spirit of law. Asudani argued that same rider had not been placed for filling up posts for SC/ST candidates, even though some posts have been advertised numerous times. He cited examples of head of NU post graduate law department Shirish Deshpande and retired sociology lecturer Prof Lakshman Khapekar who earned distinction for their unmatched academic success despite blindness from this very university. He prayed for cancelling the advertisements and directives to NU to come up with new one with proper reservations for disabled. (Times of India 15/3/12) Left regime law on 50% quota for women to be replaced (25) Kolkata: The West Bengal Government today said the legislation by the previous Left Front government

to ensure 50 per cent reservation for women in the three-tier panchayat system was "illegal" and would be replaced by a new law. Replying to questions in the Assembly, Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Subrata Mukherjee said new law would provide up to 50 per cent reservation for women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs, including minorities, taken together. Mukherjee said the old law, which provided 50 per cent reservation for women only, was illegal and would be scrapped. Later, he told media persons outside the House that the Left Front government had introduced the legislation on 50 per cent reservation for women knowing well that it would not be implemented. Pointing out that a law aiming at 50 per cent reservation for women in Karnataka was challenged in court and as a result the panchayat elections in that state had not been held for two years, Mukherjee said the Left Front government had brought the legislation as it was hoping that something similar would happen once the law was implemented in West Bengal. (Express India 21/3/12) SC approves online counselling for PG medical seat (25) New Delhi: In a major relief to thousands of medical students, the Supreme Court on Friday approved the Centre's proposal for their online counselling for admissions to post graduate medical courses against all India quota in government colleges, except those in Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh. The move would benefit an estimated 25,000 students vying for 5,245 post graduate medical and 168 Master of Dental Surgery seats in the present 2012-13 academic year. A bench of justices Deepak Verma and K S Radhakrishnan passed the order after hearing senior counsel Ashok Bhan who urged the court to grant permission for conducting the online counselling from May 1, 2012. The competitive examination for All India quota (50 per cent) seats in government colleges is conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. For 15 per cent All India seats of undergraduate (MBBS and BDS courses), the examination is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Bhan told the court that the government had taken all steps for publicising the online counselling through the print and electronic media besides the official websites. According to the Centre, the proposed online counselling will not make it imperative for the students to rush to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai or Kolkota and they can opt their choice through the internet even while sitting at their homes. This would enable the students save time, efforts and money which they otherwise had to utilise earlier for visiting the four metros where it is conducted every year. The counsel said the National Informatic Centre had developed the software for the counselling programme. The Centre had sought similar permission for conducting online counselling for the undergraduate medical courses on which the court did not pass any order today. The Centre told the apex court that the identification of seats will be done by arranging them in alphabetical order, besides state-wise and college-wise order. It said the seats are proposed to be reserved for various categories like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Physically Handicapped categories in the Central government institutions as per the rules. The government further said presently there are only two rounds of counselling with participation of lesser number of students on the basis of a 1:4 ratio for post graduate courses and 1:2 for the under graduate courses. It added by introducing the online method with three rounds of counselling, it expects to ensure "better utilisation of all-India quota PG and UG seats and minimum wastage of All India quota." (Zee News 23/3/12) MRPS vows to step up agitation on micro-classification of SCs (25) ONGOLE, March 26, 2012: Activists of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti burnt the effigy of the ruling Congress in protest against its indifferent' attitude to their demand for introduction of a bill in the current Parliament session on micro-classification of SCs for the purpose of reservation. MRPS State general secretary U. Bramaiah Madiga led a protest march by the activists from the Ambedkar statue in front of the HCM College to the Ambedkar statue near the Collectorate raising slogans against the ruling Congress. Setting ablaze the effigy of the ruling Congress, the agitators vowed to intensify their agitation seeking an amendment to the Constitution. We will picket MRO offices all over the State on Monday, its district president Franklin Madiga said. Twenty MRPS activists, led by MRPS leader T. Oldsworth, observed relay hunger strike for the 30th day in front of Prakasam Bhavan here. MRPS district general secretary Anand Madiga urged Madiga MPs and MLAs of ruling Congress to prove their commitment to Madigas' welfare by persuading Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to take up the long-pending demand. Doubting the sincerity of TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu in pursuing their case, MRPS district vice-president T. Babu Madiga said: We are fed up with both ruling Congress and opposition TDP , he added. (The Hindu 26/3/12)

HC for quota in local body posts (25) CHENNAI: The Madras high court has suggested that the Tamil Nadu government bring a legislation reserving posts/offices of vice-chairmen or vice-presidents in local bodies to dalits and women. A division bench comprising Justice D Murugesan and Justice P P S Janarthana Raja came out with the suggestion, while passing orders on a writ petition filed by advocate M Palanimuthu. The advocate had sought a direction to the state government to reserve 33% of all vice-chairmen and vice-president posts in local bodies and municipalities, besides 22.5% reservation for dalits. In this regard, he pointed out that already such reservation had been provided for dalits and women as heads of various local bodies. He wanted the similar benefits to be extended to deputy chiefs of such civic bodies. The judges, conceding that reservation was an affirmative action designed to improve well being of under-represented communities, pointed out that the state had restricted such reservation to persons directly elected to posts in civic bodies, such as chairmen, presidents, members and councillors. The law has not extended the quota to vice-chairmen and vice-presidents. Noting that such direction cannot be issued by the court to the government in the absence of statutory provisions, the judges said: "It is for the state to consider for inclusion of a provision extending the same reservation to the posts/offices of vice-chairmen and vicepresidents, identifying constitutes for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women candidates." (Times of India 29/3/12) Panchayat polls: Ward delimitation, reservation for women finalized (25) PANAJI: The government has completed the delimitation of wards for the upcoming village panchayat elections and the delimitation exercise will be notified in the official gazette soon. Panchayat elections are likely to be conducted on May 16, 2012.While the reservation of seats for women has also been finalized, the reservation for OBC and ST candidates will be finalized by next week, officials said. Panchayats director Menino D'Souza said that in the just-concluded delimitation exercise, the number of wards in village panchayats has not been increased. The reason is that the government does not have the published census figures of 2011. The government has evenly distributed the voters in the various wards to avoid lopsided voter population in some wards. This has been done on the basis of data received from the block development officers of various talukas. D'Souza said that the reservation of seats for women has also been finalized and will be notified in the gazette. The reservation of seats for women is done on the earlier formula of rotation of wards. For the upcoming panchayat election, the reservation for women is as follows: For 5-member panchayats, the wards reserved for women are 2 and 5; for 7-member panchayats, the wards are 2 and 7; for 9-member panchayats, the wards are 2, 4 and 7; and for 11member panchayats, the wards for women are 3, 4, 7 and 11. But for 11-member panchayats that were newly-classified in 2007, the reserved wards for women are 2, 4, 7 and 11. The panchayat polls in 2007 saw several instances where ST or OBC candidates contested in wards where there were neither ST nor OBC voters. To prevent this, the state has recommended that reservation for such candidates be done on rotation basis, but only in wards with substantial population of ST or OBC voters. Reservations for ST and OBC may be restricted to 50% of the total reserved seats to prevent general categories from getting affected by "negative reservation", officials said. (Times of India 31/3/12) Provide reservation based on economic condition (25) Chandigarh: Haryana Power Minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav on Sunday demanded reservation on the lines of economic status and claimed that the recent Jat agitation should have been dealt with a stern hand, as nobody can be allowed to take the state for ransom as was the case in Hisar. It is time that the government reviews and consequently revises its policy regarding reservation. The ideal way to ensure justice and to deal with the present situation is to link future reservations for upper castes as well as OBCs to ones economic status. Let a Brahmin or a Bania enjoys reservation based on his economic status, said Yadav. The demand got support from an unexpected quarter on Sunday as Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hoodas close confidant and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dharambir told a gathering at Bhiwani: It is not that only lower castes are facing difficulties in earning their livelihood. Several upper castes are also living under dire economic conditions and deserve the benefits of reservation. A statement issued on Dharambirs behalf added that under the present social circumstances, benefits of reservation should be given on the basis of the economic condition of the person rather than on caste. Meanwhile, former Haryana Congress spokesman Ved Prakash on Sunday slammed those demanding the inclusion of Jats in the backward classes. (Indian Express 2/4/12)

Siddaramaiah seeks increase in quota for backward classes (25) Chitradurga, April 2, 2012: Stating that the 50 per cent limit for reservation for backwards classes was a brainchild of the upper castes, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah stressed the need to increase the quota for Dalits and other backward classes. He was speaking after inaugurating a convention of backward classes and the birth anniversary programmes of Buddha, Basaveshwara, Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram organised here on Sunday. Stating that the Tamil Nadu government has increased the reservation to 69 per cent, the Congress leader questioned why the same could not be replicated in the State and country. Those who have fixed the limit of 50 per cent reservation argue that higher reservation for backward classes will reduce the number of talented persons in the government sector. Does that mean that the people of backward classes and Dalits are not talented? he asked. Lamenting that the aspirations of B.R. Ambedkar of providing equality and social justice for all has not been fulfilled yet, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that only those parties that have concern for the welfare of the oppressed classes could strive to realise the dream of Ambedkar. Criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for opposing the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims within the 27 per cent quota for backward classes, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that it was the same BJP that opposed the Mandal Commission which proposed reservation for backward classes. However, today suddenly the BJP is showing concern for the backward classes stating that reservation for Muslims within the present quota would take away the reservation rights of backward classes. What should we call such polices, concern for backward classes or politics over reservation? he asked. Stating that only unity among the backward classes, Dalits and other downtrodden communities would bring justice to them, Mr. Siddaramaiah called upon the backward communities to develop a sense of self-respect. (The Hindu 2/4/12) Akhilesh bins Maya promotion quota (25) Lucknow, April 3: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav today scrapped a Mayawati-era policy of reservations in promotions for SC/ST officers at the expense of those from the general category, honouring a pre-poll pledge for a merit-driven bureaucracy. The move to junk the policy, rejected by the high court and pending before the apex court, is being seen as an attempt by the young chief minister to get a free hand in putting bureaucrats of his choice in key positions. The manifesto of the ruling Samajwadi Party for the recent polls had promised to do away with the rule. Employee associations had demanded the policys withdrawal since January 2011 when Allahabad High Court dubbed it unconstitutional and struck it down following at least 50 petitions by employee associations. Today, a statement from the chief ministers office focused on the court order. We stand by the high courts order and will not follow the rule issued by the Mayawati government for quotas in promotion of SC\ST candidates in government jobs, said an official. The Mayawati government had appealed in the Supreme Court. It argued that the reservations in promotions were in line with provisions in the Constitution for the weaker sections and without such quotas, it would be impossible to rectify what it claimed was an uppercaste tilt in the bureaucracy. But the apex court asked the government to maintain status quo and not enforce the policy. Caste biases in the Uttar Pradesh administration are not new, the tilt depending on the party in power. If Mayawati was seen as promoting Dalit officers, the Mulayam Singh Yadav-headed Samajwadi Party seemed to push for Yadav bureaucrats. Upper-caste officers got plum posts when the BJP ruled. Employee associations welcomed todays scrapping. It was caste that gave the SC/ST candidates the edge over others, said Shailendra Dube, president of Sarvajan Hitay Sanrakshan Samiti. Rajiv Soni, another leader, said: Mayawati wanted to go beyond Mandal (commission). The Mandal recommendations, already in force, provide for quotas at the time of entry. (Telegraph 4/4/12) U.P. Dalits fear reversal of quota in promotion (25) LUCKNOW, April 5, 2012: With speculation rife that the Samajwadi Party government may follow the Allahabad High Court ruling on reservation in job promotions, Dalit organisations want the government to wait till the Supreme Court delivers its verdict in the case. The judgment has been reserved by the apex court. In its Assembly election manifesto, the ruling party had said that on issues pertaining to reservation in promotions, it would act in accordance with the High Court order. The Lucknow Bench in its judgment dated January 4, 2011 quashed the Mayawati government's decision granting reservation in promotions. A Special Leave Petition was filed in the Supreme Court against the order by the Bahujan Samaj Party government and some organisations on February 28, 2011. Allowing the SLP, a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court ordered that status quo, as it exists today, shall be maintained by the parties until further orders. The judgment was reserved on February 15, 2012. A delegation of the Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao

Ambedkar Mahasabha met Chief Secretary Javed Usmani and apprised him of the apex court's ruling on the maintenance of status quo and the judgment being reserved on February 15, 2012. In a memorandum, the Ambedkar Mahasabha said the government should wait for the Supreme Court's verdict. It also mentioned the 77{+t}{+h}and 85{+t}{+h}amendments to the Constitution on reservation in promotions and seniority. (The Hindu 5/4/12) Gujarat govt agrees to give 50% quota to self-financed institutions (25) Ahmedabad: It seems the state government is more interested in pandering to interests of the selffinanced education institutions in state, than the interests of its students. Here is a case of admission quota in post-graduate course run by the self-financed dental colleges. Meritorious students, who aspire for the master degree course in dentistry, are worrying about the cost of their studies. Expense is likely to shoot up sharply, as their chances of getting admission under government quota has reduced to less than 50%.One of the parents of a BDS student said on condition of anonymity: SFI dental colleges are trying hard for the last two years to increase their admission quota by 50% on basis of citing Madhya Pradesh high courts verdict. However, SFIs efforts turned futile when the state government strongly opposed it twice. The SFI consortium had also approached the SC but the apex court didnt entertain them, he said. There are a total of 1,025 seats of BDS course in the state, out of which, nine SFI dental colleges have 725 seats. For the master degree course, there are nearly 200 seats in the state. The parent further said: Gujarat has a special act in the state for the admission in the professional courses run by the SFIs, where 75% seats are reserved for the merit-based admissions and 25% seats are given to the management and NRI quota on higher fees. The SC had stated that this act needs to be amended by the state government so as to allow 50% quota to the management of SFIs. The consortium had approached the Gujarat high court with the same demand. Surprisingly, this time Gujarat government didnt argue in the court and gave its consent to the demand of the SFIs. Now even the meritorious students will have to suffer at the loss of seats as instead of 75% seats they will get only 50% seats on normal affordable fees. Raising strong protest against the state governments move, Manish Doshi, member of Gujarat University Executive Council and spokesperson of GPCC said, This move of the state government shows that it is hand-in-gloves with the SFIs for allowing these institutions to sell their seats at higher prices. As a result of this, the meritorious students will suffer a big loss of seats in MDS course. We will not let this happen and protest this move till it gets revoked. Government during the argument agreed to fill up the seat with 50% management and 50% as per the government merit rules, said Nirupan Nanavati, senior council, who appeared in the case on behalf of the consortium of SFI. (DNA 6/4/12) CPI(M) demands 10 p.c. quota for Muslims (25) KOZHIKODE, April 8, 2012: Demanding 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and additional reservation for other minorities in education and employment, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Saturday said Dalit Christians and Muslims should be included in the Scheduled Caste list. Through a resolution adopted at its ongoing congress here, the party protested the deliberate delay by the Central government in implementing the Ranganath Misra Commission report. It drew attention to the Commission's two recommendations reservation of jobs for Muslims on grounds of social and economic backwardness and including Dalit Christians and Muslims in the SC list. The party said the job reservation recommendation would require a law to end the present 50 per cent limit on total reservation arbitrarily imposed by the Supreme Court. The recommendation, the CPI(M) resolution said, came in the wake of the Sachar Committee report which presented a graphic picture of discrimination Muslims were facing in employment. There is thus an urgency to take specific measures to redress this injustice to Muslim communities. This is a democratic and secular demand. The party, however, pointed out several weaknesses in the report on State-wise details not recognising land distribution to Muslims in West Bengal, or employment of Muslims as teachers in madrasas and other institutions at government salaries. It noted that only the Left Front Government had implemented 10 per cent jobs for this section. Terming the Congress' statement on quota for minorities during Uttar Pradesh elections a gimmick, the party said the Congress gave a handle to the communal forces and caused confusion among other social sections. Charging the Congress with being non-serious, the CPI(M) said the Manmohan government did not clarify its position despite a consistent demand by the Left parties and others. The Misra Commission recommended an amendment to the 1950 Presidential Order which, it said, was discriminatory against SCs who had converted to either Islam or Christianity. The CPI(M) congress condemned the communal campaign of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-BJP combine against this legitimate right of the

minorities for reservation in jobs and education and against the legitimate claims of Dalit Muslims and Christians. (The Hindu 8/4/12) New norms for schools as SC backs Right to Education (25) NEW DELHI: With the Supreme Court throwing its full weight behind the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, (better known as the Right to Education Act or RTE Act) on Thursday, the composition of students in schools as well as the economics of running schools will undergo dramatic changes. The apex court upheld the constitutional validity of the Act and directed all schools, including privately-run schools, irrespective of the board they are affiliated to, to admit from this academic year (2012-13) at least 25% students from socially and economically backward families. These students will be guaranteed free education from class I till they reach the age of 14. This means the nature of the classroom will change. Until now, several schools were holding a separate shift for students from poor families after the main school was over. Under the RTE Act, they will have to induct these students in the main class - in other words, 25% of every class will have students from socially and economically disadvantaged families. While many educationists feel the resultant social integration will make education more meaningful, the reaction of some expensive schools as well as of some parents hasn't been positive. Also, the need to give free education to 25% students is expected to increase the expenditure of schools, which is likely to lead to another round of fee hikes. The schools will get a subsidy from the government for giving free education (65% of the subsidy will come from the Centre and 35% from states), but the subsidy is not expected to meet the full cost. The government subsidy will be based on the expenditure per student in government schools or Kendriya Vidyalayas, while many private schools spend (or at least, charge as fee) much more. According to estimates, the government spends Rs 3,000 per child per year for primary education. The Centre has given states the freedom to implement its own grants and aids, but many states are financially broke and the grants vary from state to state. For instance, Delhi gives about Rs 1,200 per child per month, while Haryana doesn't give any aid to schools. Some educationists said that now private schools would have to hike fees as 75% of the class would have to pay for the 25% students admitted under the RTE Act. Reacting to the Supreme Court order, HRD minister Kapil Sibal said, "I am very happy that the court has set all controversies at rest. One of the biggest controversies was on whether the 25% reservation applies to private schools or not... that controversy has been set to rest." The court has, however, sought a clarification from the government on applicability of RTE Act to boarding schools and orphanages as the legislation applied only to day scholars. "To put the matter beyond doubt, we recommend that appropriate guidelines be issued under Section 35 of the 2009 Act clarifying the above position," the bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said. According to 2007-08 statistics quoted by the Supreme Court, out of the 12,50,755 schools imparting elementary education in India, 80.2% were government run, 5.8% private aided and 13.1% private unaided. Of these, 87.2% of the schools were located in rural areas. (Times of India 13/4/12) SC upholds law to reserve 25% seats in private schools for poor (25) If the idea behind the provision in the Right to Education law - to provide 25% reservation in private schools and government-aided minority institutions - is to address educational inequality, then it's not going to work. As it is, restrictions on private schools are severe, limiting their numbers relative to huge demand for schooling. Even if 25% seats in these schools are opened up to the poor, it will only be a drop in the ocean compared to enormous numbers of underprivileged children in the country. Moreover, even for the 'lucky' few among poor children who are admitted to private schools, their path will be thorny. Since the subsidy provided by the government won't be enough to defray the cost of their education, this cost will largely be transferred to other students (while also giving private schools more opportunity to profiteer, since they aren't allowed to book legitimate profits). This will establish a patron-client relationship between fee-paying and poor students, leading to condescension rather than equality. Moreover, poor students are likely to fare worse in class as they are exposed to fewer cultural products (poor kids' parents can't afford them, affluent parents can). Rather than abolishing the class system, the move will entrench class in the classroom. A far better approach to educational equality and opportunity would be to establish large numbers of high-quality government schools, where education is free. On the one hand, the government intervenes heavily in sectors where markets can work - the taxpayer-funded Rs 30,000 crore bailout for Air India is only the latest example. But precisely where markets can't work and government intervention is needed - such as providing primary education to all children - it would prefer to push the 'burden' on to the private sector. Such a lopsided approach can't succeed. (Times of

India 14/4/12) Plea against OBC quota admitted (25) HYDERABAD: The PIL bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar on Monday admitted two writ petitions filed by Satyanarayana, a former member of the AP Public Service Commission (APPSC) questioning the failure of the state government to exclude politically advanced communities from the list of OBCs for the purpose of reservations to political offices. The writ petitioner said that consequent upon a judgment of the SC, the government was required to conduct an independent inquiry and ensure that reservations were properly used. The bench granted four weeks time to the government to respond. The bench also adjourned a separate batch of connected petitions on the question of reservations for backward classes. (Times of India 17/4/12) Demand for Scheduled Tribes reservation in House grows louder (25) MARGAO: The Goa State Scheduled Tribes Action Committee (GSSTAC) headed by Antonio Gaunkar has demanded that steps be taken to implement the reservation of seats in the legislative assembly for scheduled tribes (ST) as per Article 332/3 of the Constitution of India. The GSSTAC demanded that from the 40 seats in the legislative assembly, at least five seats should be reserved for tribal populace. The GSSTAC had earlier written to the election commission stating that the recently assembly elections were 'illegal'. The GSSTAC has held several meetings after the elections and demanded that steps be initiated immediately. (Times of India 18/4/12) UT asks schools for RTE admissions status (25) Chandigarh: In a communication circulated to city private schools on Monday, the UT Education Department has stated that the unclaimed seats reserved under the Right to Education Act (RTE) - for underprivileged children - cannot be converted into general seats without the directions of the Department. The Department has also directed the schools to provide information on the status of admission to RTE seats which were lying vacant till March 20. A total of 30 schools have been directed to provide details of the name of the entry level class, total number of seats in the entry class, number of seats reserved under RTE (as per 25 per cent quota norm), number of applications received for admission to these seats, number of RTE seats already filled and number of RTE seats lying vacant till date. The department has also asked the schools to provide reasons for rejection of applications, if any. All the 30 schools have been asked to respond by Wednesday evening. We received nearly 14 applications for admission after March 27, informed DPI (Schools) Sandeep Hans. Our district education officer had marked the applications to the respective schools. In case the schools fail to respond to our communication within the specified time, we will issue showcause notices immediately, he added. As per the information available with the Education Department, a total of 318 RTE seats were lying vacant across 30 schools as on March 20. These include Vivek High School (Sector 38), St Kabir School (Sector 26), Shishu Niketan School (Sector 22), Banyan Tree School (Sector 48), First Step School (Sector 26), St Mary School (Sector 46) and Ankur School (PU campus). (Indian Express 18/4/12) HC seeks Centre's reply on PIL opposing quota for minorities (25) Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to file a reply on a PIL challenging a notification whereby a sub-quota, under the reservation for OBCs, had been fixed for minorities. A division bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and SUZ Siddiqui passed the order on the PIL filed by city-based social organisation Prahari, which had challenged the notification dated December 22, 2011, whereby a 4.5% sub-quota within the 27% reservation provided to OBCs had been fixed for the minorities. The petitioner had contended that the aforesaid notification was "unconstitutional" as under Article 15(4) of the Constitution, reservation could not be provided on the basis of religion. Asking the Centre to file its reply within a month, the court ordered that the matter be listed for further hearing after six weeks. (DNA 18/4/12) CM sets job policy date (25) Basirhat, April 19: Mamata Banerjee today said her government would in a month devise a foolproof bill for reservation of Muslims belonging to backward classes in government jobs. I have asked Upen Biswas (the backward classes welfare minister) to draft the bill. We will reserve 17 per cent government jobs for Muslims belonging to the backward categories. Seats will be reserved in higher-educational institutes

also. I want doctors and engineers from the community. The bill will be ready in a months time, the chief minister said at an event in Basirhat in North 24-Parganas. If Mamata has her way, the bill could be placed in the Assembly in the June session. Writers officials clarified that the reservation for Other Backward Classes could not exceed 17 per cent as there was no scope for quota on religious grounds. Jobs or seats in educational institutes can be reserved up to 17 per cent. The government will have to follow the rules, a senior official of the backward classes welfare department said. But Mamata announced her confidence in the bill her government will prepare. We will draft the bill in such a way that it will not be rejected. It will be foolproof, Mamata said. The Trinamul-led government is set to include 33 more minority sub-castes in the list, which will make 91.5 per cent of the 2.02 crore Muslims in the state eligible for reservation in government jobs, The Telegraph had said on April 16. The chief minister also distributed Kisan Credit Cards, loans, scholarships and laid the foundation for four Kisan Mandis in Habra, Minakha, Bongaon and Barrackpore, and 16 rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Mamata announced sops to upgrade education in the area. We will set up a mother and childcare centre at Basirhat. We have also decided to set up 158 upper primary schools of which 73 would be in the Basirhat sub-division. Apart from these, 12 madarsas would be given recognition. The chief minister, however, did not forget to highlight her governments good work, which she said was not being highlighted enough. Geyon jogi bhikh paye na (no one gives alms to a known beggar). People should be proud of Bengal. We have released prisoners, given leave to working mothers, issued Kisan Credit Cards, crop insurance schemes, scholarships, loans for the poor and industry, Mamata said, drawing loud cheers from the crowd. She also urged the people to keep away from a section of the media which highlighted her rival party. There are two or three CPM-run channels, dont watch them, Mamata said, before naming the television channels of her choice. Asked about the crackdown on Nonadanga eviction protesters, Mamata said she was against any eviction. I am not going to evict hawkers, refugees, slumdwellers. There are some NGOs who are raising money in the name of the poor and misusing it, she said. Mamata also reiterated her opposition to SEZs, withdrawal of urban land ceiling and acquisition of agricultural land for industry. (Telegraph 20/4/12) Christian Scheduled Tribes upset over ward reservation in Quepem (25) MARGAO: The Christian Adivasi Sangatna (CAS), Quepem, has expressed its disapproval over the reservation of wards for ST the panchayat elections in Quepem taluka. Pointing out that fewer wards were reserved for ST in the coming elections, CAS claimed that this was in violation of the provisions contained in the statute. "While 34 wards were reserved for ST in all the 11 panchayats of Quepem taluka in the last panchayat elections held in 2007, in the recent panchayat elections the government has reserved only 13 wards. Though STs comprise more than 50% of the population in Avedem-CottombiChaifi, Naquerim-Betul and Balli panchayats, no reservation is given to the ST in the presently declared panchayat elections. The decision of the government not to reserve wards in Avedem-Cottombi-Chaifi, Naquerim-Betul and Balli panchayat for STs is against the constitution and against the Goa Panchayat Raj Act 1993, as Section 7(4) mandates reservation of seats for ST as per their ratio of population in respectivepanchayats," CAS secretary John Fernandes said. Stating that the failure of the government in reserving seats for the STs was "unjust and unfair", the CAS has alleged that this could even be a "game plan of the government to deny the STs of their constitutional right". (Times of India 1/5/12) Mayawati seeks constitutional amendment for SC/ST employees quota (25) NEW DELHI: The Question Hour is sacrosanct and the chairman of Rajya Sabha is very particular about its inviolability. But BSP supremo Mayawati on Monday had her way as the chair bowed to her keenness to raise the Supreme Court's quashing of quota in promotion in Uttar Pradesh before the Question Hour could begin. The BSP chief demanded a constitutional amendment to shield promotion quota for SC/ST employees promulgated in 2007. The apex court had quashed the quota on the grounds that UP had failed to furnish sufficient data to justify the move. Mayawati's maiden intervention in Parliament since migrating from the state following the assembly debacle raised eyebrows. She was allowed to speak on a BSP notice for suspension of Question Hour, a demand rarely agreed to. When the BSP supremo, winding up her 15-minute speech, demanded a debate in Parliament on the issue, parliamentary affairs minister Pavan Bansal promptly accepted. Surprised MPs linked the indulgence from government managers to the upcoming Presidential election. Congress needs the backing of outside supporters like UP outfits SP and BSP to sail through comfortably in a contest for Rashtrapati Bhavan. While the whiff of Presidential polls was evident in the proceedings, the quota issue in itself was sensitive enough to

dominate the otherwise dull day that belonged to the dalit czarina and ironically her former aide-turnedbitter foe, P L Punia, with loud support across the partylines. Speaking during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, Congress MP Punia demanded that Centre move the Supreme Court to clarify Nagaraj judgement which had created confusion that the apex court had nullified the provision of quota in promotion. He said while the judgement allowed for quota, it sought studies to establish backwardness and adequate representation in services of the beneficiary group. Punia said the nine-judge Indira Sawhney judgement on Mandal Commission had clarified that backwardness of SCs/STs was undisputed. He said the ninejudge order prevails over the five-judge Nagaraj judgement on backwardness of dalits and the Centre should ensure this clarification from the apex court. MPs from different parties associated themselves with Punia, while K Suresh of Congress asked parliamentary affairs minister V Narayansamy to inform what the Centre planned to do. Mayawati recalled how the Centre had amended the Constitution in the wake of Indira Sawhney order to continue quota in jobs and promotions for SCs and STs. "There have been such decisions which have affected reservation for SCs/STs. Bring necessary amendment in the constitution and get it passed in this session, so that SCs and STs get their due," she said. (Times of India 1/5/12) RTE: Admissions without 25% quota illegal, says govt (25) Bangalore: A day after private schools in the state expressed their helplessness in implementing the Right to Education (RTE) Act from the current academic year, a determined state government on Wednesday directed private unaided schools to announce only 75% of the admission list and keep 25% of the seats aside to enable admission of students belonging to economically weaker sections. But heres the worrying bit in the story. Most private schools have already completed their admission process for the current year. So if the RTE Act is implemented as per the state governments orders, some children will end up losing their hard-earned seats, which will be traumatic not only for them but also for their parents. In which schools will such kids find admission again? This is a question parents would like the government to answer. As per the timetable issued by the education department on Wednesday night, private unaided schools have to announce the first list (selected seats) by the first week of May. In order to reduce the confusion regarding the implementation, the department has told the schools to announce the list for only 75% of the seats. To make sure everyone falls in line, the government has warned that it would declare the list illegal if any school declares the list without setting aside 25% of the seats for students from economically weaker sections. Kumar Nayak, secretary, state department of primary and secondary education, said: To avoid any confusion over the reservation in private unaided schools, we have directed them (schools) just to fill 75% seats and wait for the other 25% seats till the government order is issued. Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri, state education minister, said: We will soon finalise the criteria. After that, we will fill 25% of the seats. The schools need to wait for the government order regarding 25% of the seats, said Kageri. But private managements are still worried over the implementation of the RTE Act. D Shashikumar, organising secretary, Karnataka State Private Schools Management Federation, had a few questions: We want the state government/department to be clear about certain issues. What if the reserved 25% seats are left vacant? What if no student is willing to join the school from that locality? (DNA 3/5/12)

Mayawati walks out of RS over SC/ST quota in promotion (25) NEW DELHI: BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday threatened to launch a nationwide agitation against Congress for dragging its feet over reservation for promotion of SC/ST employees. Sore with the government reply to a debate over the issue, Mayawati led her party members stage a walkout in Rajya Sabha against what the former UP CM described as Congress's "anti-Dalit agenda".Earlier, replying to the debate that had been sought by BSP against the Supreme Court verdict overruling such reservations in UP, MoS for personnel V Narayanasamy said PM Manmohan Singh was willing to convene an all-party meeting to build a consensus over the issue. He said various governments had in the past tried to bring amendment to provide more privileges for SCs, STs and OBCs, but they were "unfortunately" struck down in courts. Other political parties too demanded constitutional amendment to provide promotion for SCs and STs in jobs. Demanding a constitutional amendment to provide promotions to SC/ST employees in view of SC quashing UP government's decision on quota benefits to them in promotions, BSP member Satish Chandra Misra earlier said such a situation has arisen that requires the matter to be taken up by this House. "Otherwise, it will lead to a very bad situation," said Misra, adding that "looking at the gravity of the situation, it is necessary to have such an intervention....it is necessary to have such an

amendment".Seeking support of various parties to bring an amendment, he said, "Parliament has to consider this now... President cannot refer the matter to Supreme Court. That is not the remedy." SP's Ram Gopal Yadav, however, said that while his party in principle supported reservation for SCs/STs in promotion, it was against Rule 8 A of the UP Government Servants Seniority Rules that necessitated consequential seniority. The BSP government introduced the policy that stipulated reservation for SC employees in the first stage of their promotion and that of the benefit of consequential seniority in successive promotions under Rule 8-A of the UP Government Servants Seniority (Third amendment) Rules, 2007. "If this rule is implemented, no person from either the general or OBC quota would ever be able to head any government department five years from now," said Yadav. BJP leaders said that there was no need for an all-party meeting as there was already a consensus over the issue. Minister for law and minorities Salman Khurshid, while intervening in the discussion, said the government was committed to empowerment of all backward communities and provide them reservation in government jobs in proportion to their population. Opposition BJP, CPI and CPI-M also accused the government of delaying such a crucial issue. CPM members sought a timeframe from the government in which it would bring a Bill for the constitutional amendment required to ensure reservation. Khurshid said the primary restriction of 50% maximum limit for reservation in jobs for SCs, STs and OBCs "ties the hands of the government" in doing much for them in proportion to their population. (Times of India 4/5/12) Girls rule Stephens, so panel proposes 40% quota for boys (25) New Delhi, May 05, 2012: Sixty-five per cent of students in the citys prestigious St Stephens College are women. Hence, to fix this skewed sex ratio, a proposal has been moved to reserve 40% of seats for men. Reservation gets a thumbs down decision, he said, had been taken by the supreme council. The faculty immediately shot it down. The principal called a meeting in the morning to discuss the proposal, which was unanimously rejected. The supreme council does not have the power to make academic decisions, said faculty member Karen Gabriel. But her colleagues said the proposal had been shot down only for this year and it will be back on the table next year. This is a retrograde step. This is a space where women are flourishing and we should encourage it, not restrain it, said Nandita Narain, another staff member. Thampu couldnt be contacted despite repeated attempts. The supreme council is responsible for maintaining the religious and moral character of the institution as a Christian college. Headed by the bishop of the Church of North India in Delhi, Church members, the diocesan board of education and the principal, it has no jurisdiction over administrative or academic matters. Teachers said another reason for the proposal was a decision taken way back in 1975 that said 75% of students in the college should be men. (Hindustan Times 5/5/12) UP governor clears ordinance quashing promotion quota (25) LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh governor BL Joshi on Sunday gave his nod to a draft ordinance quashing dalit quota in promotions of government employees. The ordinance overturns Mayawati's five-year-old reservation policy and comes 10 days after the Supreme Court upheld the Allahabad high court order. The UP cabinet was quick to implement the court order through an ordinance to woo to its core OBC constituency before the urban bodies poll. The ordinance will affect promotions of over 16 lakh state employees in general and OBC categories. The SP government is confident about getting the ordinance passed when the assembly convenes as it enjoys absolute majority. The ordinance seeks to do away with Section 3(7) and Section 8(A) of the UP government employee seniority rules that brought the controversial caste-based quotas in promotions. (Times of India 7/5/12) SC strikes down Haj subsidy, sets 10-yr elimination deadline (25) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down the government's policy of giving subsidies to Haj pilgrims and directed that it be progressively eliminated within a period of 10 years. We hold that this policy is best done away with, a Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Ranjana Prakash Desai held. The Bench also directed the government to reduce to two, the number of its representatives in the Prime Minister's goodwill delegation. It said it will look into the functioning of Haj Committee of India and the process for selecting people for Haj pilgrimage. The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the Centre challenging a Bombay High Court judgement which had directed the Ministry of External Affairs to allow certain private operators to handle 800 of the 11,000 pilgrims earmarked under the VIP quota subsidised by the government. The Bench while hearing the plea of the Centre had expanded the purview of the plea...(New Kerala 8/5/12)

Gujarat law exam hit by reservation row (25) Ahmedabad, May 9: Thousands will appear for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) exam Sunday to enter national law universities. But those who have opted for Gujarat National Law University will have to wait till the Gujarat High Court rules on the reservation issue. Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J.B. Pardiwala have issued notice to the central and Gujarat governments for not keeping seats for Other Backward Classes, Dalits and tribals in the Gujarat University. The high court notice has also said the university can go ahead with the admission test but the court order will have to be accepted. Of the Gandhinagar-based Gujarat National Law University's 160 seats, 120 are reserved for the central and the rest for Gujarat quotas, said lawyer Amit Panchal for the petitioner. The high court has asked all respondents to respond before June 14. (IANS) (New Kerala 9/5/12) Government breaks head over RTE reservation policy (25) MUMBAI: Though less than a month is left for the new academic session to start, the school education department is yet to draft a formula for Class I admissions regarding 25% reservation for economically weaker and underprivileged students, as per the RTE Act. School education minister Rajendra Darda told TOI there are several problems. "We will have to define income for economically weaker sections. Also, we need to factor in the share of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other categories. For this, we have studied the formulae adopted by other states." A senior official from the education department said it had secured information from Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur. New Delhi has informed that a student whose parents' income is less than Rs 1 lakh a year will be considered as belonging to an economically weaker section (EWS) of society. Madhya Pradesh and Manipur have fixed this limit at Rs 40,000, and Mizoram at Rs 30,000. The RTE Act defines an EWS child as one belonging to such parents or guardians whose annual income is lower than the minimum limit specified by the appropriate government by notification. The official said it was difficult to fix percentages for each category deserving of reservation. "We are bound by law to provide reservation, but in a class of 32, we have to provide reservation for eight students (25% of 32) belonging to SCs, STs and other communities (disadvantaged groups). We feel we will have to reserve one seat for each community mentioned in the disadvantaged group." He said that while in Maharashtra there was a delay in drafting new rules, particularly on EWS and disadvantaged groups, a number of states had completed the exercise last year. "We were waiting for the outcome of a bunch of petitions before the Supreme Court on the matter." He said the apex court has upheld the constitutional validity of the RTE Act, but the state government has the problem of defining shares of eligible categories in the 25% quota. (Times of India 10/5/12) SC staff raise quota-in-promotion pitch (25) Lucknow: State government employees of SC category, who gathered under the banner of Aarakshan Bachao Sagharsh Samiti (ABSS) at NBRI auditorium in Lucknow on Sunday, have decided to approach all the MLAs and the MPs, who represent SC seats and seek their support for their agitation in favour of reservation in promotion. The ruling SP has won 57 seats, reserved for SC, in the Assembly elections this time. The ABSS wants all such MLAs and MPs to convince the ruling SP about the need for reservation in promotion. The state government had amended the Uttar Pradesh Public Servants (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes) Act 1994, abolishing reservation in promotion for government employee. The government also deleted rule 8 (a) of the Uttar Pradesh Government Servants Seniority Rules, which conferred the benefit of consequential seniority on SC/ST employee, giving them an advantage over other employees. The state governments decision to amend the 1994 Act and the rules is meant to comply with Supreme Court judgment, which struck down the states policy of reservation in promotion that was introduced by the previous Mayawati government. The BSP and employees of the reserved category want the government to bring a constitutional amendment to undo the Supreme Court judgement. We would create pressure on the MLAs and MPs, who are from SC category, to support our demand for reservation in promotion. If they fail to do so, we would socially boycott them, said ABSS convener Awadhesh Kumar. According to him, such MLAs, who are elected to the Assembly from the reserved seats, are supposed to protect the interest of SC people. (Indian Express 14/5/12) Sexual minorities remind government of demands (25) BANGALORE: Sexual minorities in the city on Thursday undertook a pride march to demand their rights,

including reservation. Akkai Padmashali, organizer of the event, said, "We are very grateful to the fact that Anu C, one of our kind, has been given a government job in the high court. So far, only the women's development corporation have been extremely supportive towards our cause. We are happy the government has allotted Rs 50 lakh for our community." "I am very happy that we are being recognized by the government for the very first time. By holding this march, we just wanted to remind the government about our demands. We have remained a hidden community for long," said Sanaa, programme director of an organization for the prevention of HIV and AIDS. The function began with some sexual minorities coming forward to share the injustices they faced in society. Sonu, a female to male transgender, said, "Society has stereotypes about gender roles for males and females, that we are forced to accept." Manohar M, director of Sangam, said, "Transgenders from Kerala have migrated to other parts of the country." Anu C, who started working at the high court in February, said, "I hope that other members of my community also become eligible for government jobs in the near future." (Times of India 18/5/12) Dalits to fight for quota in private sector (25) HYDERABAD, May 18, 2012: All India Confederation of SC, ST Organisations, State unit, is organising a national seminar here on June 17 to discuss implementation of reservations for Dalits in private sector and higher judiciary. The seminar would also review recent Supreme Court's judgement against reservations in promotions. The meeting would be presided over by Udit Raj, who had earlier rallied SCs, STs across the country at Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi when the Supreme Court had given some judgements against reservations in 1997. The then NDA government subsequently brought in 81, 82 and 85{+t}{+h}amendments to the Constitution and restored the reservations provided in Article 16 (4), and 16 (4-A) in jobs and promotions. K. Maheshwar Raj, convenor, and J. B. Raju, president, Dalit Sena, told media persons here on Thursday that even as movements are being launched demanding reservations for SC, STs in the private sector jobs, appointments in higher judiciary, corporate educational institutions, the Supreme Court in April gave a judgement against reservations in promotions. After the NDA government restored the reservations in jobs and promotions, the Supreme Court gave its direction once again about reservations in promotions recently. The seminar would chalk out a future course of action to protect the rights conferred on the Dalits by the Constitution. It would be attended by academicians, judicial experts, editors, SC, ST, minority, OBC employees, students and political leaders. (The Hindu 18/5/12) Internal reservation sought for women (25) BANGALORE, May 19, 2012: The Karnataka Joint Action Committee of Backward Classes, Dalits and Minorities has opposed the government's decision to implement 50 per cent reservation for women in urban local bodies without providing internal reservation. The committee demanded that internal reservation for the backward classes be provided out of the 50 per cent reserved seats to ensure social justice. Otherwise, this policy will only benefit women from the upper castes. The government should realise that women in the backward communities are disempowered, said Krishna Nayak, State president of the commission. The government announced its decision earlier this month to amend the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964 and the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, to provide 50 per cent reservation for women. (The Hindu 19/5/12) Still awaiting 18% quota for Muslims in UP: Khurshid (25) NEW DELHI, May 22, 2012: A new government in Uttar Pradesh has been formed and the people are still awaiting the 18 per cent reservation proposal for Muslims in the State to become a reality, observed Union Minister for Law & Justice Salman Khurshid addressing a function at the India Islamic Cultural Centre here on Monday. Without naming the Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh, Mr. Khurshid said: When the Congress-led UPA-II gave 4.5 per cent reservation to the backward minorities, some people said they will give 18 per cent. But I am still waiting for them to walk the talk. Talking pot-shots at the SP Government, Mr. Khurshid said: Even though I pray that they would be able to provide 18 per cent reservation, I know they cannot do that. In that case, I suggest they provide at least 9 per cent and I would be happy with that. He also said that he still believed that the Election Commission was wrong in stopping the implementation of 4.5 pre cent reservation notified by the Union Cabinet just before the U.P. Assembly elections. When I spoke about reservation, it was made communal. I am saying this again quite frankly and openly. The Election Commission was wrong in stopping the implementation of the reservation a few days before the U.P. elections, he addedOn the issue of implementation of

recommendations of the Sachar Committee, Mr. Khurshid said whatever had been done till now was not sufficient but it is a gradual process and Sachar Committee was just the start. I know the community has been in need of affirmative actions since a long time and it will take some time before there is some impact on the overall condition of the community. He emphasized the need for the Muslim community to become self-dependent: We need to learn a lot from the way the Blacks and the Jews improved themselves in the US. But he also said that in spite of many problems facing the minority community, a revolution was in the offing. (The Hindu 22/5/12) Sibal for Muslim quota under RTE (25) NEW DELHI: Union human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal has urged the Delhi government to treat Muslim students as a "disadvantaged group'' for admission in schools under the 25% economically weaker section quota mandated by the Right To Education Act. At present, apart from SCs and STs, only OBC students not belonging to creamy layer are considered disadvantaged and, therefore, entitled for admission under the 25% RTE quota. Under the Act, however, states have the authority to include any other group that it feels is disadvantaged within this quota. Sources said Sibal raised the issue of expanding the "disadvantaged" category with Delhi education minister Arvinder Singh in a meeting on Thursday in view of reports that few Muslim students were able to get admission under RTE. According to sources familiar with details of the deliberations, Sibal suggested that the Muslim community as a whole be notified as a disadvantaged group -which should clear the way for a large number of students of the community to be admitted in schools. However, the advantage, as in case of OBCs, could be limited to economically weaker sections in the community. Wajahat Habibullah, chairman of National Commission for Minorities, who was present in the meeting, confirmed the HRD ministry's move to widen ambit of "disadvantaged" for the benefit of Muslims. "The ministry was of the opinion that if Muslim community is specifically mentioned, it would help schools in identifying students and correct the disadvantage they suffer accordingly,'' Habibullah said. He added that the Delhi education minister had already given his consent. Singh could not be contacted. However, officials in the department confirmed his meeting with Sibal, adding that the state government was yet to take a call on the issue. The commission had earlier written to the Delhi government and the HRD minister highlighting the issue. In case, the Delhi government agrees, it will be required to work out the exact percentage that Muslims would be entitled to within the 25% RTE quota for the disadvantaged. Minority rights activists had alleged that schools were deliberately excluding Muslim children by giving lower weightage to Muslim-dominated colonies, thereby excluding them through the point system. The other decisions that were taken in the meeting were Delhi government's offer to allow private minority organizations run government schools in the areas that had a large minority representation. "There were concerns that government schools run in areas that have a large representation of minority community do not provide quality education. The Delhi government has suggested that if there is a minority foundation that is keen to run the school, the government school infrastructure could be made available to them,'' a senior official said. (Times of India 26/5/12) AP HC strikes down Muslim quota (25) Hyderabad, May 28, 2012, DHNS: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday quashed the 4.5 per cent sub-quota to minorities carved out of 27 per cent reservations meant for OBCs (Other Backward Classes). A division bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Sanjay Kumar, set aside the Office Memorandum (OM) issued by the Centre in December last year to provide sub-quota to minorities in central educational institutions and jobs. The court, which was dealing with the petitions of BC Welfare Association and others, said the OM violates Article 15 (1) and 16 (2) of the Constitution of India, which prohibit discrimination based on religion. The bench, which had heard the arguments and reserved its judgment last month, felt the sub-quota was created only on religious grounds and the government did not justify classification of religious minorities as a homogeneous group or as more backward classes deserving some special treatment. The court held that Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) do not form a homogeneous group but a heterogeneous group. Shortly after the verdict was pronounced, the Congress treaded cautiously, saying the court judgement has to be read and understood. You cannot react to court judgments until you have perused, read, understood and appreciated..(We can comment)....after we receive copy of the judgment, party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters in Delhi. The court order may affect admissions already made in central educational institutions such as IITs. (Deccan Herald 28/5/12)

Government to move SC against quota decision (25) New Delhi, May 29 : The central government Tuesday said it will move the Supreme Court against the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court quashing the 4.5 percent sub-quota for the minorities carved out of the 27 percent reservation for other backward classes in jobs. Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters here that the government will move the apex court as early as possible after consulting its law officers. He said the government would "go to Supreme Court by way of SLP (special leave petition) against the pronouncement of Andhra Pradesh High Court". The Andhra Pradesh High Court had Monday quashed the 4.5 percent sub-quota for the minorities carved out of the 27 percent reservation for other backward classes (OBC) in jobs. A division bench of Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar set aside the office memorandum (OM) issued last December by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to provide the sub-quota to minorities. (IANS) (New Kerala 29/5/12) States told to buy 4% goods from SC/ST, Dalit units (25) New Delhi, May 30, 2012: The Centre has asked state governments to compulsorily make at least 4% of their purchases from units run by Dalit as well as scheduled caste and scheduled tribe entrepreneurs. In a letter to all chief ministers last week, Virbhadra Singh, the minister of micro, small and medium enterprises, said that state governments should notify a policy making it mandatory for departments and state-owned firms to source 20% of their purchases from small enterprises. A fifth of that would have to be bought from Dalit and SC/ST-owned firms. This is in line with a public procurement policy for micro and small enterprises that the Centre had recently notified, setting the quota for purchase of goods from small firms. The 20% quota for medium and small enterprises for these purchases had become applicable from April 1, 2012, in a three-year staggered manner. It will become mandatory from April 1, 2015. "I request you to kindly issue instructions to your industries department to interact with all central ministries, departments and public sector undertakings and facilitate the policy implementation," Singh said in his May 23 letter. "I also request you to consider formulating a similar public procurement policy from medium and small enterprises in your state." The central government spends about a third of its annual budget on procuring products ranging from agricultural implements and cars to stationery items and clothes. This year, the government is set to spend about Rs. 4 lakh crore on public procurement. Conservative estimates suggest that the reservation policy will provide a ready market of about Rs. 30,000 crore for goods supplied by firms run by Dalits and SC/ST persons. "The policy will be made mandatory from 2015-16. Non-conforming departments will have to provide reasons to the review committee set up under the policy," an official said. (Hindustan Times 31/5/12) No sub-quota within 25% Right To Education Act free seats, says Maharashtra (25) NAGPUR: The state government has in a 22-page notification issued on May 25 clarified that there will be no sub-quota within the 25% free seats that have to be made available by all schools under the Right To Education Act. Sanjay Deshmukh, state project director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, said, "If the applications are in excess of seats available, the schools will have to conduct a lottery where all forms will be clubbed together." The notification states that students eligible for the free seats should belong to either 'disadvantaged group' or 'weaker section'. "There are no further quotas," said Deshmukh. Schools in Maharashtra were grappling with implementation of the 25% free seats with the state giving no clearcut guidelines on any further break up. While it was always clear that 25% seats will be reserved for 'disadvantaged group' and 'economically weaker section', schools had no clarity on which group to give preference during admissions. The 'disadvantaged group' has been defined by the government as 'child belonging to scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and any other category specified by the state'. Children belonging to 'VJNT, OBC, special backward classes, religious minorities specified by the state government and those whose parents/guardians' annual income is below Rs. 1 lakh' fall in the 'weaker section'. "Admissions of students in the two special categories will be done after the school receives the caste and/or income certificate," said Deshmukh. He clarified that the income certificate of parents/guardians will have to be issued by a revenue official not below the rank of a Tehsildar. Also, the caste certificate will have to be issued by a revenue official not below the rank of deputy collector. Proof of residence will also have to be given by the parents as the RTE pursues the 'neighbourhood school policy'. Under this, children can take admission in the 25% quota only in schools which are within the 1KM radius of their residence. A CBSE school principal told TOI on condition of anonymity that being 'stuck

between two agencies is always a problem'. "We come indirectly under the HRD ministry and are more than happy to follow the RTE. But the implementation of the Act has been handed over to the state department which will keep formulating its own policies. The paperwork we require for our normal admissions is so different from the ones it is asking for under the 25% quota. New forms have been prepared and it seems one staff member will be required just to fill in data only," he said. (Times of India 3/6/12) New guidelines to check discrimination of SC/ST students (25) New Delhi, June 2, 2012,: In response to the alleged profiling of North-Eastern and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes students in various higher educational institutions, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has recommended creating equal opportunity cells and appointing anti-discrimination officers in institutions across the country. The UGCs new guidelines defines ragging, derogatory remarks and calling their names in a derogatory manner and other forms of unfavourable treatments to SC/ST students as acts of discrimination. Demanding fees from SC/ST students in excess of the amount mentioned in their declared admission policy or denial/limiting of access to benefits arising from enrolment in the institution will also be considered discrimination. The higher educational institution universities, colleges and deemed universitiesmust ensure that SC/ST or North-Eastern students are not segregated in common facilities or subjected to discriminatory treatment in academic or sports infrastructure. The regulation also underlines the need to prevent the breach of reservation policy during admission and discrimination of accepting, processing or handling of the SC/ST students. Following a suggestion from the HRD Ministry, the UGC has also proposed to create an ombudsman position in each higher educational institution to look into the grievances of students including those belonging to SC and ST. The education watchdog will be established in every central university and higher educational institution including the elite Indian Institutes of Management and Indian Institutes of Technology, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had said in January referring to a decision. The ombudsman will either be a judge not below the rank of a district judge or a retired professor who has at least 10 years experience in student grievance redressal. Setting up of the ombudsman would ensure transparency in admissions and to prevent unfair practices in higher educational institutions, while also serving as a redressal mechanism. An ombudsman will be the appellate authority in the case of discrimination against SC and ST students. It will also be an appellate authority in the case of grievances of other students, which will first be examined by a grievance redressal committee, to be set up in each higher educational institution under the proposed UGC (Establishment of Mechanism for Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012. The committee will comprise three senior teachers and a student representative based on academic merit. Among various grievances, It will look into complaints on delay in holding examinations or declaration of results beyond the time specified in academic calendar and also denial of quality education promised during admission or required to be provided. The new regulations and guidelines for checking discrimination against SC and ST students will be presented to the State Education Ministers at a meeting here on June 5. (Deccan Herald 3/6/12) Minority quota gets High Court rap for the fifth time (25) It is true that the high court's judgement quashing the 4.5% sub-quota for minorities within the 27% central quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has caused anguish to minorities, particularly Muslims, not only in Andhra Pradesh but across the country. It is the fifth time that the high court has given its adverse verdict on the issue of reservations for minorities. The Congress government headed by Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy had issued GO Ms 30 in August 1994, for inclusion of 14 castes/categories, including Muslims, in the list of Backward Classes. A three-member bench of the HC directed the state not to put it into effect till AP Backward Classes Commission submitted its report. For 10 years (19932003), the commission collected data, held its sittings and also conducted a socio-economic survey of Muslims and other castes but for reasons best known its then chairman Justice K S Puttuswamy, no report was submitted to the government. And, after the Congress regained power in 2004, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government issued GO Ms 33, earmarking five per cent reservations for Muslims by designating them as a backward class. A division bench of the HC suspended the GO and referred the issue to a five-member bench. In September 2004, the court struck down the GO as unconstitutional and ultra vires on four counts: that the Commissionerate of Minorities Welfare acted hastily and the process of identifying and classifying Muslims as BC was vitiated since no proper investigation was done; mandatory consultation with AP Backward Classes Commission was not done; the government did not identify the

creamy layer and it failed to justify why the overall reservations exceeded the 50% bench-mark provided by the Supreme Court. The government then reconstituted AP BC Commission which submitted its report recommending 5% quota for backward Muslims. The governor promulgated an ordinance in 2005 earmarking 5% reservations for Muslims by including the community in the BC 'E' category. The issue again landed up in court. The five-member bench struck down the ordinance in November 2005, mainly on the ground that religion-based reservations were unconstitutional. The bench cited five grounds for quashing the quota. The BC Commission considered reservations for one community, while the claims for inclusion of other castes and communities were pending. Earlier, two commissions-K N Anantharaman Commission and N K Murlidhara Rao Commission-which looked into claims of castes and communities for inclusion among BCs refused to recognize Muslim community as a whole as backward. The BC Commission did not produce sufficient data and facts to justify its findings. The total reservations exceeded the 50% ceiling suggested by the Supreme Court. Lastly, the bench observed that "the government can provide reservations to Muslims who are backward through proper identification but cannot declare the entire Muslim community as backward." Thereafter, a fresh exercise was undertaken. The state government referred the limited question of reservations for Muslims to the BC Commission. P S Krishnan was appointed as advisor to assist the commission. Krishnan submitted his report. In 2007, the Commission recommended reservations for only the identified socially and educationally backward (SEBC) Muslim groups and scaled down the quota from five per cent to four per cent. The ordinance promulgated giving reservations to 15 SEBC groups of Muslims was again challenged in HC. The sevenmember bench pronounced its verdict in February 2010. The bench was divided 5-2 and provided three different decisions while striking down the ordinance (and subsequent Act) providing quota to SEBC Muslims. The majority judgement not only objected to 'religion-based' reservations even for groups of SEBC Muslims but also faulted the Krishnan Committee and BC Commission reports for deficient data and improper surveys. The judges ruled out any affirmative action for SEBC Muslims under the three relevant Articles of the Constitution and even went a step further and expressed concern over such reservations "potentially encouraging religious conversions." Justice B Prakash Rao aired the minority view, holding that the bench was not called upon to adjudicate the list of SEBC Muslims but was only required to answer a legal reference. Justice DSR Varma also did not agree with the majority view. In all, 25 judges heard the matters in five different batches of writ petitions in a span of 18 years. Four successive advocate generals and an assistant solicitor general unsuccessfully argued in favour of reservations before HC benches. The Special Leave Petition of AP government against the 2010 judgement of high court against 4 per cent state reservations for SEBC Muslims is pending before a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. The Union government is likely to file an appeal now in the apex court against the high court verdict . The last word is yet to be pronounced on this crucial issue on which the fortunes of the minorities in the country rest. (Times of India 4/6/12) Govt to push for minority sub-quota in apex court (25) New Delhi: The Centre will move the Supreme Court before it reopens on July 2, challenging the recent Andhra Pradesh High Court judgement which struck down 4.5 per cent central sub-quota for minorities within the OBC quota, holding that reservations could not be based purely on religious grounds. Announcing the governments plan, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said the petition will be filed in a manner that it is ready to be heard in the first week of July. I have spoken to Kapil Sibal (HRD minister). He has no worry at this point of time whether the benefit of 4.5 per cent sub-quota will be available to students this (academic) session... I asked him whether the time was short. The impression (he gave) was that it wasnt, he said. However, sources in the government said that the HRD Ministry was pressing for filing of the petition as early as next week as the AP High Court judgement had put in a quandary nearly 350 IIT aspirants who had been shortlisted under the sub-quota. The HRD Ministry was of the view that filing of the petition could not be delayed as IIT counselling was slated for June 13 and admissions were on in various other universities. Following the High Court judgement, IITs have recently advised all the shortlisted candidates to note that availability of 4.5 per cent reservation for OBC (non creamy layer-minority) will depend on the legal developments till June 13, suggesting that they register the choice of courses accordingly. (Deccan Herald 7/6/12) Centre moves SC on sub-quota for minorities (25) New Delhi: The Central government has challenged in the Supreme Court the order of the Andhra Pradesh high court quashing 4.5 per cent reservation for minorities within the 27 per cent OBC quota in

Central educational institutions. The apex court will hear the governments plea on Monday. A bench comprising Justices K.S. Radhakrish-nan and J.S. Khehar will examine the appeal of the Centre, which has contended that the high court had taken an erroneous view in striking down the provision despite the decision to provide the quota being taken after an extensive survey. The high court had held on May 28 that the Centre acted in a casual manner in granting a 4.5 per cent sub-quota to minorities, carving it out of 27 per cent OBC reservation. It had said the office memorandum (OM) creating the sub-quota was based on religious grounds, and not on any other intelligible consideration. The December 22, 2011 OM for a 4.5 per cent sub-quota for socially and educationally backward minority communities was announced by the Centre ahead of the Assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. (Asian Age 10/6/12) BJP to oppose religion-based reservation (26) Terming religion-based quota for Muslims as a dirty gameplan of the Congress to divide the nation again, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said it will oppose any such move by launching a nation-wide mass movement and exposing the dirty face of its rival party. The nation is on the verge of another partition this time an ideological partition. The BJP will not allow any such partition on the basis of religion, said BJP leader Uma Bharti. Charging the Congress with playing dirty politics for petty political gains in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP leader said, The sole purpose behind this dirty politics is the OBC vote bank and the target is Uttar Pradesh. She said the BJP will launch a countrywide Jan Andolan (mass movement) from the streets to Parliament to expose the dirty face of the Congress. I will myself come forward in opposing the move for religion-based reservation, as it poses a threat to the nations unity and integrity, she said. She added that the Congress party was trying to play such dirty politics merely to increase its votes by one or two per cent in one state. Ms. Bharti also accused the Congress of having a bigoted mentality illustrated by its proposal for religion-based reservation ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, as it could not tolerate anyone opposing it. The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister also urged the so-called leaders of OBCs and Dalits, besides Muslim leaders to oppose religion-based reservation. Ms. Bharti said the BJP will also talk to Muslim leaders asking them not to support the move as religionbased reservation went against the basic tenets of Islam. Islam is based on the primary principle of universal brotherhood. It does not accept reservation. Caste inequality has been a part of the Hindu society, Ms. Bharti said. Urging Muslim leaders to come forward in opposing such a reservation, Ms. Bharti said, If Muslims accept and adopt this, then they should come out of Islam... Naming Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati, she lamented that the socalled leaders of Dalits and backward classes had remained silent so far on the issue. Ms. Bharti went on to recall Nehrus words spoke on May 5, 1949 that If you seek to give safeguards to the minority, you isolate it. Maybe you protect it to a slight extent. But at what cost? At the cost of isolating and keeping it away from the main current. Charging the Congress for its dirty and divisionary politics, Ms. Bharti said India was a secular state which did not practise religionbased reservation. Our nation is a secular state. It is not a religious state...By announcing such religion-based reservation, does the Congress say that India is a Hindu State. We say it is a Hindu nation, but not a Hindu state, the BJP leader said, while asking the Congress to clarify its stand on the issue. (The Hindu 11/6/12) SC questions grounds for minority sub-quota (25) New Delhi, June 13: The Supreme Court today rejected the Centres claims that OBCs among Muslims, Christian converts and Sikhs were among the most backward and refused for now to allow the 4.5 per cent sub-quota for Muslims. Can you have such a classification? We are not inclined to grant a stay, Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and J.S. Khehar said after additional solicitor-general Gourab Banerji sought a stay on Andhra Pradesh High Courts order last month striking down the sub-quota on the ground that it was based on religion. Todays order the second time in three days that the court declined to stay the high court order will immediately impact the 325 candidates who qualified in this years IIT exams under the sub-quota. Banerji cited this as one of the reasons to seek the stay. But the bench didnt agree. You cant separate all religious minorities and prepare a separate list. How many minorities figure in the general merit list and in the OBC list? Justice Khehar asked. Banerji argued that the sub-quota was valid. You cull out the most backward from these communities, he said, citing data from the reports of the Mandal Commission, the Sachar committee and the Ranganath Mishra panel. Justice Radhakrishnan wondered under what law the government was trying to introduce the sub-quota. Banerji said it wasnt being done for the first time and pointed out that seven states already gave OBCs

from these communities some sort of reservation. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have sub-quotas for Muslims. In Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, they get the reservation if they are on the central OBC list. The bench also asked how the government had arrived at the 4.5 per cent figure. Justice Khehar said the 27 per cent OBC quota was based on a homogeneous group, unlike the sub-quota. In this case (sub-quota), there is only one criteria (religion), the judge said. Banerji contested this, saying the 27 per cent group too was not homogeneous. (The Telegraph 14/6/12) Sadashiva Commission recommends internal reservation among SCs (25) Bangalore: The Justice A. J. Sadashiva Inquiry Commission, which looked into methods of equitable distribution of reservation facilities among Scheduled Castes (SCs), has recommended internal reservation among the castes by broadly reclassifying all the 101 castes into four groups. As a suitable law has to be brought in by Parliament to incorporate the recommendation, the commission has asked the State to take up the matter with the Union Government. Disclosing this to reporters after submitting a report to Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda here on Thursday, Mr. Sadashiva said that the commission had recommended reclassification of all Scheduled Castes into four groups of Right Community, Left Community, Touchables and Other Scheduled Castes communities for equitable distribution of the overall reservation of 15 per cent that is being given to Scheduled Castes. Of this reservation of 15 per cent, the commission has recommended 6 per cent to Left Community, 5 per cent to Right Community, 3 per cent to Touchables and one per cent to Other Scheduled Castes communities, he said. The above quantum of allocation of reservation benefits to the four groups were made after assessing their socio-economic and educational development through a door-to-door survey of 96.60 lakh persons belonging to Scheduled Castes, he noted. This included 1.58 lakh persons employed in Union and State government establishments. Giving the break-up of population of the proposed groups, he said of the total 96 lakh population of Scheduled Castes, the Left Community accounted for 33.47 per cent, Right Community 32 per cent, Touchables 23.64 per cent and Other Scheduled Castes communities 4.65 per cent. The numbers do not add up to 100 per cent as about 6 lakh members among the Scheduled Castes have desisted from mentioning their castes during the survey. While the exact reason for this is not known, we feel that it could be due to the social insult as they may have suffered some social problems earlier, he said. He said the survey results had indicated that the Right Community had got more benefits from reservation than the other Scheduled Castes communities as comparatively they were in a better situation in terms of education and employment. Expressing dissatisfaction that on an average the implementation of Scheduled Castes welfare measures were not effective, he said the commission had recommended setting up of enforcement and evaluation wings to not only monitor the implementation of these schemes but to find out if they were effective. Pointing out that the commission had worked for six years and eight months, he described it as the longest-serving judicial commission in the State. The Chief Minister said that the Government would take steps for the implementation of the commission's recommendations after examining them. The State Government had constituted the commission in 2005 when N. Dharam Singh was the Chief Minister to ascertain whether there were any discrepancies in the distribution of benefits under Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution and whether these benefits were equally distributed among all castes and groups included in the Scheduled Castes list. The commission had been set up following complaints by the most backward communities among the Scheduled Castes that some castes among Dalits had cornered all reservation benefits, while others had been denied their share of Constitutional rights. (The Hindu 15/6/12) Govt defers decision on urea price, creamy layer (25) New Delhi | Agency: DNA: Under pressure from allies and the opposition from within, the government on Thursday was forced to defer issues of raising retail price of urea by 10% and to raise the income level of the creamy layer for OBC candidates, claiming reservations in government jobs and higher education. The cabinet, which met here under prime minister Manmohan Singh, also could not fix the minimum support price (MSP), for moong and tur (arhar) pulses, even though, it fixed MSPs for11 other items for the 2012-13 kharif crop. Sources said the proposal by the social justice and empowerment ministry aimed at raising the income ceiling from Rs4.5 lakh per annum to Rs6 lakh for the creamy layer in OBC candidates was deferred, following objections raised by some ministers, who wanted more clarity and statistics of beneficiaries. Also some ministers wanted to know reasons behind striking down the original proposal of the ministry, which envisaged creating two creamy layer ceilings, Rs12 lakh for urban areas

and Rs9 lakh for rural areas. But, it was rejected by the prime ministers office even before putting it before the cabinet in view of inflationary trend and other factors like the cost of living. The ministry was then asked to submit a fresh proposal for the cabinet approval. The other proposal deferred was to hike in the retail urea prices by 10% to Rs5,841 per tonne for 2012-13. Home minister P Chidambaram said the proposal was returned to the chemicals and fertiliser ministry, seeking clarifications.The cabinet committee on security also approved Rs1,100 crore for purchase of technological equipment to kickstart the National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) which plans to link 21 categories of databases for ready access by intelligence agencies. (DNA 15/6/12) Get set, and go: Sports quota trials to begin Tuesday (25) New Delhi: With admission registrations closing, Delhi University colleges are now preparing for admission to sports quota seats, trials for which will begin on Tuesday. From June 19, Jesus & Mary College (JMC) will conduct trials for volleyball, basketball, hockey, badminton, boxing, chess, etc. over a span of three days. Fitness tests at the college will be conducted on the same day, said Anju Luthra of the colleges Physical Education department. More than 400 students have applied this year. Of this, 60 per cent have applied for basketball. We will conduct their fitness tests on the day of the trials. We will also try declaring the results on the same day, she said. While the number of seats under one sport is not fixed, the total number of seats at the college under sports quota ranges from 30 to 40, she said. Fitness tests at Hansraj will begin a day in advance. The fitness tests will take place on June 19 and 20, while trials will be held from from June 20 to June 26, said Dr V K Kawatra, principal of Hansraj College. According to the revised guidelines issued for this session, sports quota applicants are required to pass fitness tests before appearing for trials. The panel this year would include experts from outside the college representatives of the Delhi University Sports Council and an observer from the ViceChancellors office. Dr Amita Rana from Miranda House said the students have to qualify in two of the three fitness tests to appear in the trials. There are around 30-35 seats in sports quota at Miranda House. Miranda House would be conducting trials for six games including tennis, volleyball, yoga, taekwondo and athletics on June 20 and 21, Rana said. Trial dates of most of the colleges are clashing with each other. JMC and Hansraj have trials for shooting, badminton on the morning of June 20; Miranda House and JMC have fitness tests and trials on the same days. Ramjas and Lady Shri Ram also have their fitness tests on June 22. Dr Rana said a centralised fitness test for sports quota applicants would have made things easier. Our college is conducting trials on June 20 and 21 as we dont want it to clash with that of other colleges. Students will be going to other colleges for trials. It is not possible for them to give more than two trials in a day as it will take a toll on their body, she said. (The Financial Express 19/6/12) Minority colleges seek HC exemption from reservation (25) New Delhi; Two days before they were required to submit their cut-off lists to Delhi University, four colleges that were preparing to reserve 50 per cent seats for Sikh students this academic year, moved the Delhi High Court on Friday, seeking an exemption from reserving seats for SC, ST and OBC students. Citing the minority status granted to them by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institution (NCMEI), the colleges Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, Guru Gobind Singh College, Mata Sundri College and Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College run by Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC), asked for permission from the court to submit their cut-off lists as per their past practice. The colleges were declared minority institutes last year, but this was challenged by DU in court. The colleges had challenged a single-judge bench order of May 29, stating that if they wanted to admit students for the current academic year, the process had to be mandatorily in accordance with the DU guidelines, which lays down reservation for SC, ST and OBC students. Appearing for the colleges, senior advocate K T S Tulsi said this order was bad in law since a previous division bench order had protected them against any judicial order on admitting students and, further, after getting minority status, they could not be compelled to make reservation like a non-minority institution. Tulsi also pointed out that the cut-off lists, which were to be sent to the university by Monday, could only be prepared after a clarification from the court on the issue of reservation. (Indian Express 23/6/12) 'Muslims lagging behind SCs, STs' (25) HYDERABAD: Voicing a unified demand for implementation of recommendations of the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission or the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, Muslim politicians and minority rights advocates highlighted the condition of socially backward minorities,

Muslims in particular, at a discussion held at Jamat-e-Islami Hind in the Old City on Sunday. The participants iterated that the commission's recommendation for providing 15% reservation for minorities (including 10% for Muslims) has not been implemented by the government. Many of them also opined that the creation of a sub quota from the OBC quota would not benefit the Muslims much as it only guarantees reservation in education and government postings. Zahid Ali Khan, editor-in-chief of Siasat Daily, urged all minorities to take up the cause of implementation of the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission report. "In order to emancipate the backward Muslim communities, many of which have been declared as more backward than SCs and STs, political reservation is also necessary. Therefore separate reservation for minorities and Muslims is required," the participants said. They also demanded that paragraph three of the 1950 presidential order should be deleted as it prevents Muslim and Christian dalits from availing reservation on par with Hindu dalits. The order violates the constitutional guidelines against discrimination on the grounds of religion, they said. (Times of India 25/6/12) No OBC reservation in minority institutions: Court (25) NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday exempted four minority colleges of Delhi University from reserving 27 percent seats for students from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for the 2012-13 academic year. The court's order came while hearing the plea filed by a group of colleges seeking exemption from reserving 27 percent seats for students from OBCs, as they were minority-run institutions. The court said these colleges shall provide reservation in admission for Schedule Castes/Scheduled Tribes as per the university's norms, but "they will not be obliged to give reservation to OBCs".A division bench of Justice V.K. Jain and Justice Pratibha Rani said: "We are modifying the order dated 29 May 2012 to the extent that the appellant (colleges) shall give reservation in admission for the year 2012-2013 to SC/ST category, as per the norms of DU, but they will not be obliged to give reservation to OBC." Four colleges run by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee(DSGMC), constituted under the Delhi Sikh Gurdwaras Act, approached the court challenging a single judge's May 29 order directing them to continue with the admission process in accordance with the DU guidelines which lay down reservation for the SC/ST and OBC students. Accepting the contentions of senior advocate KTS Tulsi that they were granted the status of minority institutions by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI), the court said: "We are of the view that the practice, which these institutions had been following till 2011-2012 for reservation, should not be change to their (colleges) disadvantage, particularly when these institutes has already been declared as minority institutions".During the hearing, advocate appearing for DU said that reservation rule of DU for OBC should be followed by these colleges also. The colleges - Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, Guru Gobind Singh College, Mata Sundari College and Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College - declared minority institutes last year contended that the reservation policy was not applicable to their institutions in view of a Supreme Court verdict on OBC reservations. The apex court had held that minority educational institutions (MEI), whether they were aided by the government or unaided, were exempted from reserving seats for OBCs, the colleges said in their petition. Appearing for the colleges, senior advocate K.T.S. Tulsi submitted that the reservation policy was not only contrary to the constitution but also went against the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006. Noting that the admission procedure for the academic year 2012-2013 has started June 4, the four colleges sought necessary directions to permit them to continue with the admission process for this academic year as was being done in the past. "The appellant (colleges) herein filed an application for necessary directions, thereby permitting the appellant to continue with the admission/recruitment process for the academic year 2012-2013, as was being done by the appellant in the past years in the interest of the academic career of thousands of students who would apply for admission, so that there should be no ambiguity with respect to their status of admission," said the petition. (Times of Indfia 25/6/12) Nodal officer report to decide fate of cases against Gujjars (25) JAIPUR: The state government has decided to appoint an officer of the rank of deputy superintendent of police to examine the criminal cases registered against Gujjars during the community's agitations for quota in 2007, 2008 and 2010-11. The police officer would submit a report in two months stating whether the state government could withdraw these cases as demanded by the Gujjars while calling off their agitations. The demand was part of the 12-point agreement signed between Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla and the state government in January 2011. Reacting to the government move, the Rajasthan

Gujjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti's spokesperson Himmat Singh said, "The government has begun to execute the agreement considering the Gujjars' recent protests at Sawai Madhopur and Dausa and opposition shown to chief minister Ashok Gehlot by the community at Dausa." Chief secretary C K Mathew has directed the department of personnel to ensure compliance of the agreement's key assurance of giving 1% additional quota to the special backward classes (SBC), which includes Gujjars, in the government jobs. The SBC communities are currently part of the other backward classes (OBC) category that constitutionally enjoys 21% quota in government jobs and educational institutes. To ensure execution of the 1% additional quota promise, the district collectors would issue SBC certificates also to the members of Gujjars, Rebaris, Banjaras and Garia-Lohars communities who already have OBC certificates. Also, the merit lists of Grade-III teachers' recruitment test in 16 districts would be revised as the SBC candidates could not be given the 1% additional quota in these districts. Similarly, admissions in the state's medical colleges to successful candidates of the Rajasthan pre-medical test (RPMT), too, would be based on a merit list with a separate SBC category. "Till now the government maintained that only 65 people of Gujjar community were killed in their quota agitations. Now, it has agreed to recognise the three more persons who were killed in the 2007 agitation," said Singh. "Compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a government job to the kin of the three killed would be given by the government," the spokesperson added. The Sangharsh Samiti claimed that the government has agreed to grant one-time compensation to the injured on the basis of their medical reports. "Instead of the pensions we demanded for the injured, the government has agreed to give compensation ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh. We have been promised that these cases would be settled within next three months," Singh said. (Times of India 29/6/12) Quota cry by hill SCs & tribes (25) Darjeeling, June 29: The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities have alleged that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the state government betrayed them by failing to reserve a single seat for them in the GTA Sabha and decided to hold a protest rally here on Sunday. The SC and ST communities said reservation in elected bodies was their constitutional right and they were planning to take legal recourse to ensure the quota in the GTA Sabha. N.B. Kalikotey, the general secretary of the All India Nepali Schedule Caste Association, said: We had been repeatedly telling the Morcha and the chief minister that reservation was a constitutional right given to the community. We now find that no seat has been reserved for the SCs and STs in the GTA Sabha. He blamed both the Morcha and the chief minister for turning a deaf ear to the demand. We had told the Morcha leaders, especially the MLAs, and the intellectuals linked to the party about our demand several times. We had also raised the demand with the chief minister when she had visited the hills on October 11, 2011. Everyone has betrayed us, said Kalikotey. Both the communities have formed the SC and ST Joint Action Committee to press for the demand and nominated M.S. Bomzom and Kalikotey as the president and joint secretary respectively.We will jointly bring out a rally (in Darjeeling) on July 1 and then hold a meeting in Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan hall. Even though we have been unable to get an appointment with Mamata Banerjee, we will leave for Calcutta to meet the chief minister and discuss the matter with her in the first week of July. We will also consider approaching the court to redress our grievance, said Kalikotey. While about 34 per cent of the population in the Darjeeling hills are tribal people, 9.7 per cent are SC members. The SC and ST communities also questioned the Morcha MLAs silence on the matter in the Assembly. The Opposition leader Surya Kant Mishra has raised the issue in the Assembly but our own Gorkha MLAs didnt utter a word. We are surprised that the GTA Bill has received the assent from the both the President and the Bengal governor even though our constitutional right has been infringed upon, said Kalikotey. Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha, said the party was pursuing their demand. I will also speak to party president Bimal Gurung about the matter. In fact, the Morcha had written to the state government on June 4, demanding that a certain percentage of 45 GTA constituencies be reserved for the SC and STs. The elections to the GTA Sabha are scheduled for July 29. (The Telegraph 30/6/12)